Trailer

Helmut Newton: The Bad and the Beautiful

Runtime
1hr 29mins
Directed by
Gero von Boehm
Featuring
Charlotte Rampling, Isabella Rossellini, Grace Jones
Body

Through our Virtual Screening Room, you can rent films curated by the Coolidge team, while helping to support the Coolidge during this unprecedented time.

Our friends at Film Forum are hosting a virtual Q&A with filmmaker Gero von Boehm and subject Isabella Rossellini on Saturday, August 1 at 4:00pm EST. Learn more here.

One of the great masters of photography, Helmut Newton made a name for himself exploring the female form, and his cult status continues long after his tragic death in a Los Angeles car crash in 2004. Newton worked around the globe, from Singapore to Australia to Paris to Los Angeles, but Weimar Germany was the visual hallmark of his work. Newton's unique and striking way of depicting women has always posed the question: did he empower his subjects or treat them as sexual objects?

Through candid interviews with Grace Jones, Charlotte Rampling, Isabella Rossellini, Anna Wintour, Claudia Schiffer, Marianne Faithfull, Hanna Schygulla, Nadja Auermann, and Newton's wife June (a.k.a. photographer Alice Springs), this documentary captures his legacy and seeks to answer questions about the themes at the core of his life's work – creating provocative and subversive images of women. The film also features Newton’s own home movies, archival footage (including a pointed exchange with Susan Sontag) and, of course, scores of iconic Newton photographs. The result: a wildly entertaining portrait of a controversial genius.

watch now

Must end Thursday, August 6!

Every new release we offer will be available through the individual distributor's websites and streaming services. You'll be taken to their websites to purchase and watch the film, but a portion of your ticket will help support the Coolidge. Having technical issues? Visit our FAQ page here.

This Week

  • Winner of the Audience Award: U.S. Documentary at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

    Showtimes
  • A father, accompanied by his son, goes looking for his missing daughter in North Africa.

    Showtimes
  • A hand-made, eye-opening documentary about the most powerful technology humanity has ever created... and what’s at stake if we get it wrong.

    Showtimes
  • Winner, Best Documentary Feature at the 2026 Academy Awards.

    Showtimes
  • The new film from acclaimed director Christian Petzold (Phoenix, Transit). 

    Showtimes
  • In this five-week class, explore women's voices at the intersection of direction and cinematography.

    Showtimes
  • Céline Sciamma's Cannes-winning period love story is one of the best reviewed films of 2019.

    Showtimes
  • Writer Andrea Meyer will showcase how Bob Fosse’s groundbreaking, irreverent, explosive film is a masterpiece unlike any musical before or since. 

    Showtimes
  • The new film from Kristoffer Borgli (Dream Scenario), starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson.

    Showtimes
  • All that work. All that glitter. All that pain. All that love. All that crazy rhythm. All that jazz.

    Showtimes
  • An actress (Amanda Peet) falls for the anxious law school dropout (Matthew Shear) babysitting her kids in this smart, New York-set romantic comedy.

    Showtimes
  • David Lynch's startling debut feature is a lasting cult sensation influenced by the writings of Franz Kafka and Nikolai Gogol.

    Showtimes
  • Three films celebrating the best parts of Massachusetts, part of the 2026 Wicked Queer Film Festival. 

    Showtimes
  • Peter Jackson brings J.R.R Tolkien's Lord of the Rings from page to screen in this epic, Academy-Award winning trilogy.

    Showtimes
  • An exhilarating space adventure set in the near future.

    Showtimes
  • Federico Fellini's poetic fable of love and cruelty, the first-ever Academy Award-winner for Best Foreign Language Film.

    Showtimes
  • Mel Brooks's take on Hollywood Westerns starring Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder.

    Showtimes