The Woodmans

If the artistic genius of parents can be hard on their children, C. Scott Willis' documentary illustrates that the reverse can also be true. The Woodmans serves up a biography of Francesca Woodman (1958–1981), whose haunting self-photographs have won widespread acclaim since her suicide at 22. Bringing together Francesca's own stills, archival home movies, passages from her journals, and interviews with friends, the film examines her talent, intensity, and emotional fragility. But Francesca shares the focus with her parents—George and Betty—themselves artists (he primarily a painter, she a ceramist and sculptor) who struggle to come to terms not only with their loss but with obvious feelings of inferiority. Interviewed at length, the pair describe their courtship and marriage, as well as their relationship with their daughter and her brother, Charles. The comments reveal deep undercurrents, as when George ruefully observes that Francesca killed herself just days before an exhibition at the Guggenheim that finally promised him major recognition—stealing the spotlight, whether consciously or not, he implies. And what to make of the fact that George has recently taken up photography, producing pictures that bear an unsettling similarity to his daughter's? Betty seems to have coped better, assiduously working on a huge, colorful installation for the American embassy in Beijing. The Woodmans offers a remarkable glimpse into a family of driven, talented individuals wracked not only by tragedy but by personal demons that continue to torment the survivors. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)