NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Criterion Blu-ray (March 2024): Criterion have transferred Laura Poitras' documentary All the Beauty and the Bloodshed to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "New high-definition digital master, approved by director Laura Poitras and artist Nan Goldin". The film employs the typical contemporary documentary aesthetic, mixing archival interviews, slideshows, ground-breaking photography, and rare still footage with a variety of talking heads. So the 1080P quality varies which is totally acceptable. Criterion have put this on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. I'm sure it looks as good as it can in this format's HD presentation.

On their Blu-ray, Criterion use a robust DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround track (24-bit) in the original English language. There are brief moments of separation but generally the track is rarely tested via the narration and archival stills. The soundtrack is credited to a Berlin and New York based international experimental sound art collective known as "Soundwalk Collective" founded in 2001 by Stephan Crasneanscki. It includes "elements of observation of nature, non-linear narrative, ethnography, and anthropology intertwined in their work." They have been utilized by directors Jean-Luc Godard, Abel Ferrera, minimalist composer Philip Glass, and French pop singer and actor Charlotte Gainsbourg. It adds an effective edge to the documentary. Some may also recognize in All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, The Cold Song performed by Klaus Nomi, John Waters Female Trouble (performed by Divine) and What Makes a Man by Charles Aznavour. Dialogue is all clear and audible. Criterion include an optional, lossy, audio-descriptive track and offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Criterion Blu-ray offers a new 1/2 hour interview with filmmaker Laura Poitras plus two conversations from the 2022 New York Film Festival, one featuring Poitras, Goldin, coproducer and PAIN activist Megan Kapler, PAIN activist Harry Cullen, and lawyer and PAIN member Mike Quinn discussing the making of the film, and the other featuring Goldin on art and activism. Together these run shy of an hour. Lastly is a trailer and the package has a liner notes booklet with an essay by author and activist Sarah Schulman.

Laura Poitras' All the Beauty and the Bloodshed is a biographical documentary about American photographer and activist Nancy Goldin. It won a Golden Lion at the 79th Venice International Film Festival (only the second documentary to win the top prize at Venice.) It mainly showcases her work exploring LGBT subcultures, the HIV/AIDS crisis, and the opioid epidemic. She is a founding member of the advocacy group P.A.I.N. (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now.) Significant in All the Beauty and the Bloodshed is a campaign against the Sackler family who owned the pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma and who have faced lawsuits regarding overprescription of addictive pharmaceutical drugs, including OxyContin - a reformulated version of oxycodone - in a slow-release form. There is a lot on Goldin’s personal history; family, friends, gender restrictions etc.. I am reminded of the quotation "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed individuals can change the world. In fact, it's the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead. The Criterion Blu-ray is a refreshing title in their catalogue -  a unique educational bio-documentary of someone I had only heard brief snippets about. Bravo. Worthy viewing.

Gary Tooze