This will be one of several reviews from this year’s Tribeca film Festival. To follow our coverage, click here.
American painter Joe Coleman is known for his grotesque figures. Usually depicting serial killers, he would tell their stories through written lines and small frames highlighting different moments of their lives across an overall frame. For twelve years, director Scott Gracheff developed How Dark My Love, a documentary on Coleman. The starting point of the film is the painting of a seven-foot portrait of his wife, Whitney Ward. For four years, Coleman had taken his time to paint her life, representing multiple moments ranging from her mother’s death and its resounding impact, to her career as a photographer and a dominatrix. Ultimately, he understands that it is not possible to approach his life and work without documenting her importance in his life. As a result, the film’s focus evolved into that of a story about a pair of peculiar couple.
Consequently, the film does not follow the traditional structure of a documentary centered around a famous subject, one which presents its information chronologically. Here, the narrative shifts between past and present, gradually revealing the significance of each event. Coleman and Whitney are influential voices in the alternative art scene, as Asia Argento and Iggy Pop appear as friends of the couple. Meanwhile, Coleman would go on to star of Argento’s Scarlet Diva, a 2000 film heavily influenced by the work of arthouse director Abel Ferrara. His grotesque and hideous imagery represent the vision that he has of the rotten margins of society. He successfully connects with an audience perplexed by his unique style and a personality that strikes people. His apartment is almost a cabinet of curiosities with fetuses in glasses, coffins, vampire figures, and other particular objects.
At the same time, How Dark My Love is a fascinating study of an icon of subcultures, but it also features Coleman’s connections to some morally questionable characters. An example of this is Sammy McBride, the former lead singer of Fang who also murdered his girlfriend. He and Sammy shared a brotherly bond, a bond the played a major role in McBride’s rehabilitation following his release from prison. In the end, he was the type of character that fascinated Coleman: killers and outlaws. However, by spending so much time on this subplot, the film forgets its original central focus, Whitney’s paintings. Spending the middle of the film focusing on Coleman’s connections, rather than on his career and the work that took up four years of his life to complete, it throws off the balance between his life and career.
Ultimately, the film is at is best when the focus is on Joe and Whitney, especially when it leans on Whitney and her work on the dominatrix scene in New York, and how a profile about her in the New Yorker made a splash at the time, making for a fascinating intersection of subcultures. There are references to other artists, but there are also plenty of uncertainties when it comes to Coleman taking the time to produce such an ambitious work as a seven-foot painting. The result is a reflection of how artistry in the underground is not as financially reliable as the mainstream.
Above all else, How Dark My Love works best when it focuses on its central couple and not on the key figures in their lives. Lacking strong enough direction, the film simply fails to deliver a cohesive enough work to stand up alongside the biographical register of other icons of New York subcultures.
Score: 60/100
*still courtesy of Cargo Film & Releasing*
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Brazilian film writer. He is also a producer and executive producer for Zariah Filmes. Member of the International Film Society Critics Association (IFSCA), International Documentary Association (IDA), and Gotham and Media Film Institute.
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