Annie Leibovitz: Life Through A Lens

Annie Leibovitz has made her name photographing the rich and famous for the likes of Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair, and in doing so has become a celebrity herself. This "authorized” feature-length documentary explores that irony, her art and life. Barbara Leibovitz directs and of course, enjoyed full access to her shy but famous older sister. We witness Leibovitz working from her rural homestead, see home movies shot by her scrapbook mother and listen to her reminisce about her deceased lover, Susan Sontag. Inspired by the reportage of Robert Frank and Henri-Cartier Bresson, Leibovitz captured startling images of riots and cops in late ’60s San Francisco that would lead to a staff position at then fledgling Rolling Stone. From there, Leibovitz’s star rose as she photographed the Stones on tour, Hunter S. Thompson, Nixon’s 1974 resignation and the iconic John and Yoko cover on the eve of Lennon’s 1980 assassination. Additional interviews with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner add dimension to her life story and detail Leibovitz’s drug addiction during the ’70s that nearly killed her. Rare footage of Rolling Stone staffers, including the "gonzo” Thompson, is a highlight. The second half of the film focuses on Leibovitz’s career shooting celebrity portraits for Vanity Fair, which continues to this day. Though polished, clever and stylized, her photography during this period is less interesting than the gritty images of the Rolling Stone years. Interviews with former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown and subjects such as Whoopi Goldberg and Mikhail Baryshnikov border on the reverential. However, Leibovitz candidly revealing her relationship with Sontag rescues the film from hagiography. The DVD adds a generous hour of bonus footage but too much of it congratulates Leibovitz. Not enough of it explores her work, like Demi Moore discussing the famous pregnant, nude Vanity Fair cover. The bonus section "Celebrity” fails to explore the question of whether Leibovitz is considered great just because she photographs celebrities. This film doesn’t ask those hard questions, though it remains a major portrait of one of the key photographers in pop culture.