Douglas Gordon by Douglas Gordon: An Unconventional Portrait

The new film presents Scottish film- and video-maker Douglas Gordon in a format that blurs documentary and performance art. Rather than a conventional chronology of dates and exhibitions, the work immerses viewers in Gordon’s daily creative routine inside his Berlin warehouse studio. Director Finlay Pretsell follows Gordon as he berates the crew, ignites objects with a miniature blowtorch, coats himself in silver paint, wields a bullwhip, and blows bubbles from a large tube, all while articulating his artistic philosophy.

The Guardian

Gordon is best known for the slowed-down version of Hitchcock’s *Psycho* titled 24 Hour Psycho and for co-directing the feature Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait, which helped popularise the single-player camera now common in sports broadcasting. Archive clips in the documentary reference his receipt of the Turner Prize in 1996, underscoring his longstanding influence in contemporary art.

The Guardian

The film foregrounds Gordon’s solitary work habits, punctuated by moments of theatrical self-indulgence. He openly acknowledges that his behavior can appear “like a kid,” yet insists that risk-taking and preserving fleeting moments are central to his practice. The title he proposes, Portrait of a Perilous Character, reflects this self-reflexive stance. Pretsell’s patient direction allows Gordon the space to demonstrate his methods without conventional explanatory narration.

The Guardian

A recurring sub-theme is the way time “makes fools of us all.” The review notes a scene in which Gordon, dressed in leopard-print leggings, sobs over his absent children, highlighting personal vulnerability amid his flamboyant performance. This juxtaposition suggests that the artist’s own uncertainties may be as integral to his work as any formal technique.

The Guardian

Commentators describe Gordon as an “elusive figure” whose motivations remain opaque even after the film’s conclusion. While the documentary offers unprecedented access to his process, reviewers argue it ultimately leaves viewers no clearer on what truly drives Gordon, perhaps intentionally so. The piece is therefore both a bold artistic experiment and a meditation on the limits of self-portraiture.

The Guardian