From serious injury and coping with different levels of fame to resentment and ping-pong – a powerful insight into a life shared by two charismatic creativesIt’s hard not to wonder why this excellent documentary about an older married couple – writer and artist Maggie Barrett and photographer Joel Meyerowitz – is getting released just as Meyerowitz’s Tate Modern show is coming to end; you’d think there would be an overlap, if only to enhance traffic to both. Certainly, having got to know affable, driven, sweet-tempered Joel personally in this intimate portrait, it’s a natural desire to want to see even more of his extraordinary work: 60 years of photographs encompassing street photography, official documentation of the 9/11 disaster site in New York, still lifes and more.At the same time, it’s also entirely apt that this feature isn’t just an adjunct to Meyerowitz’s career, given it is so profoundly about Joel and Maggie’s marriage, a kind of passionate truce (as its title suggests)...
"Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other" is a compelling documentary about the passionate marriage of artist Maggie Barrett and photographer Joel Meyerowitz. The film explores their shared life, navigating fame disparity, resentment, serious injury, and the everyday rhythms of their relationship.
