STF Critic Philip Bagnall on Anton Corbijn: Inside Out

"A handsomely-made and affable reflection on a terrific artist" - IFI Stranger Than Fiction Festival Critic, Philip Bagnall reviews Anton Corbijn: Inside Out. 

Whether in documentaries or in feature films, we love a story about an ordinary guy who works hard to achieve success. As seen in Anton Corbijn Inside Out, photographer and director Anton Corbijn is one such ordinary Joe, applying his considerable talents to flatter and record the stars of today and yesteryear.

Klaartje Quirijins’ film gets substantial access to Corbijn, his family and those he works with. Bono waxes lyrical on Corbijn’s talent whilst shooting U2 on Sandymount strand, whilst Corbijn himself and his sister discus their childhood as the children of a Dutch Protestant minister. Theirs was a quiet and unflamboyant upbringing, and thus Corbijn became a quiet, unflamboyant man. Inside Out is really a film of two halves. On one side, we get a typically beautiful retrospective of his work; his stark but warm black-and-white tableaus for U2 and Depeche Mode are legendary, and his film work marks him as a director of note. The other half is more concerned with Corbijn the man. His solitary workaholic nature is clear, but there’s not a whole lot else on offer. Though twinged with a certain lonely melancholy, Corbijn’s unfussy nature makes his personal life a rather dry topic to explore.

U2 © anton corbijn

Anton Corbijn Inside Out will engage fans of both Corbijn’s work and the work of those he shoots. Even if Corbijn himself is a timid subject, his work and his pleasant demeanor mean that Anton Corbijn Inside Out is a handsomely-made and affable reflection on a terrific artist.

Philip Bagnall (@CynicalFilm)

IFI Stranger Than Fiction Festival Critic

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