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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 07, 2018
MOVIES: "Amazing" Aretha
AMAZING GRACE **** out of ****
FILM FORUM
Ok, in general I want audiences to behave themselves. We're here to
watch the movie, not you! No cell phones, no texting, no chatting. But
that's not really true. Movie-watching is a communal experience andwhen the movie's a comedy, an audience laughing along makes it thatmuch funnier. At a tense moment in a thriller, we hold our breath. Andsometimes, at a concert film, we...react. We clap or we let loose some
sound of appreciation; we are present. The very first film I ever saw at
a screening for critics was Stop Making Sense. I was in an empty
theater in Gainesville, Florida and it was so damn good I practicallyclapped along even though I was alone and had never (yet) listened to
a single Talking Heads album. When I saw a restored print of
The Last
Waltz at the late, lamented Ziegfeld Theatre (w Martin Scorsese in
attendance), the audience cheered each number as if they were at an
actual live concert. Who could blame them, with performances that
good? When I saw Jazz On A Summer's Day at Lincoln Center, the
hep cats snapped their fingers and burst into cheers at the end of
Anita O'Day's legendary "Tea For Two."
So while I was thoroughly transported, agog and beside myself when
(finally!) watching Amazing Grace -- the documentary film capturing
Aretha Franklin's live recording of her legendary gospel album -- it
was not exactly an ideal audience. A dozen sleepy critics on a weekdaymorning and not an "Amen" from one of them. No thank you. I wantto see Amazing Grace again with a paying audience that is ready to
take part, to applaud, to uh-huh, to laugh and be swept up in one ofthe best concert films in history. Quiet contemplation is not on theagenda.
I've waited decades to see this film, which was filmed way back in 1972MICHAEL GILTZ AT WORK
Michael Giltz is a freelance writer
based in NYC and can be reached atmgiltz@pipeline.com
FAVORITE LINKS
Americablog
Five O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's Blog
The Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPN
Radio
Cine-Blog -- George Robinson's Blog
Documents On Art & Cinema - Daryl
Chin's Blog
Brucie G's Wondrous Blog Of
Adventure and Mystery -- Bruce
Greenspan's Blog
BLOG ARCHIVE
► 2019 (7)
▼ 2018 (34)
▼ December (7)
and then bedeviled by technical issues and then rights issues for 46
years. I bought Franklin's legendary gospel album when it came out on
compact disc and the liner notes from that original 1972 release weremaddeningly enigmatic. Apparently, a young Sydney Pollack hadcaptured the two nights of recording on film -- the liner notes said so!
Just as clearly, the film had never surfaced. What the heck happened?
Years of mystery followed until details leaked out: Pollack had failed tosync image and sound with clapboards and it was literally impossibleto match them. When technology finally caught up, Pollack handed thewhole mess over to Alan Elliott who struggled and labored over the
project for ages until he and editor Jeff Buchanan finally delivered a
finished film. Now finally, it is making an Oscar qualifying run at FilmForum. The movie will have stiff, stiff competition but it isunquestionably worthy of winning Documentary and if Buchanan isn't
at least nominated for Best Editing, Pollack should roll over in his
grave.
How could it possibly match decades of anticipation? Heck, OrsonWelles couldn't do it when his long-lost film
The Other Side of The
Wind finally surfaced. Well it does. Amazing Grace is exactly what I
was hoping for, even if I didn't know it. It captures two nights ofperformance, showing a somewhat nervous and tense Franklin whononetheless delivers from the first note of the first song on the first
night and never looks back. (On night two she is notably more
relaxed, if still wholly focused on singing and ignoring the countlessdistractions whirling around her.
Pollack is everywhere, as are a seeming army of people wielding 16mm
cameras. He urges one to capture a wide shot, points others to goodangles, discusses segueing from a rehearsal of a song into the actualperformance (which is exactly what the film does) and so on. It'sgorgeously shot but not in the strikingly beautiful way of say a
performance piece like Stop Making Sense. It's more like cinema
verité, raw and beautiful, with the cameras finding the right point ofThe Movies, Books, Theater,
Concerts, CDs I Saw In...
TV and Film Must Watch List
THEATER: "Network" Has A
Star, But No Show
THEATER: "The Prisoner" Can't
Get Free
THEATER: Ruben and Clay's
Holiday TV Special (Minu...
MOVIES: "Amazing" ArethaTHEATER: Time For Stoppard
To Stop?; A "Prom" To F...
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► 2009 (43)
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► 2007 (781)
► 2006 (2412)
► 2005 (5)
view and sticking with i and the lighting capturing Franklin and the
mostly black choir, musicians and audience in every glorious shade
under the sun. (No easy trick, especially without the lighting ever
seeming harsh.) And what a talented bunch to film. Gospel great Rev.
James Cleveland is a treat, whether introducing Franklin, schoolingthe audience on how to behave around the cameras, playing the pianoor singing along. Just as magnetic is the Southern CaliforniaCommunity Choir, led by a young man named Alexander Hamilton (!),
who has so much personality as he leads them and interacts with
Aretha that it's a joy to watch. Individual choir singers stick in yourmemory like friends, along with audience members (who dance in theaisles when the spirit moves them) or the celebrities in attendance like
Aretha's father (who makes his presence known) or gospel great Clara
Ward (who whoops in appreciation at various points on night two).
Every detail feels right, even the bizarre fact that the New Temple
Missionary Baptist Church in Watts, California wasn't filled to therafters with people. (Apparently, they failed to get the word out?
Though you'd think even a whisper that Aretha was singing would be
enough to line folk up around the block.) So it's frustrating to think mysix year old self might have wandered in, slipped into a seat in a backpew (near Mick Jagger) and been taken to a higher ground. But it'salso kind of beautiful that the church isn't full, that this isn't an
"event" choreographed down to its every detail, but a gathering of
people creating a beautiful noise and above all worshipping.
The clothes, the attitude, the raw human feel of the 16mm film stock --
it all just works. And of course there's Aretha. I can imagine singers
studying certain moments of this film just to see how she's doing what
she does, the way her mouth and tongue and breathing are sobeautifully controlled in building up a moment and then bringing itback down and then building it back up again.
It's a thrill from start to finish but a climax comes at the end of night
one when Aretha tackles that old warhorse "Amazing Grace." Yes,there's a reason the album is titled after it. Aretha dives in and herperformance is so moving, so meaningful, so completely the opposite
of a diva showing off and instead the sound of someone moved to
rapture while exploring with her artistry exactly what she can do withthis melody at this moment in time with this choir and this audienceand it just...flies. The choir has been seated throughout the evening.But you know why a choir is seated, don't you? They're seated so thatwhen they STAND UP, you will feel it as a momentous event. They
don't actually stand up as a group, on cue. Here, they simply begin to
rise up out of their seats one by one in appreciation, roaring theirapproval as Aretha soars above them. They leap and laugh and raisetheir hands and sit back down again to wipe away tears. Rev.
Cleveland himself steps away from the piano and takes a seat on the
side, covering his head with a handkerchief, seemingly overwhelmedwith emotion. The choir director Hamilton takes over on piano andafter composing himself Cleveland takes over directing the choir as
Aretha's masterful, transcendent performance comes to a close. I've
heard this classic performance many times on disc but seeing the high
drama, the intense joy, the sheer spectacle of it all as it was happeningall those many years ago was breathtaking.
Don't get me wrong. Cleveland is a performer. Maybe he gets so moved
during every service he must step aside and compose himself. I've
never seen him in concert -- or in church -- before. But if that's aperformance, he's a method actor because he was feeling it. And with
Aretha singing her heart -- or should I say her soul -- out, who can
doubt it? Can I get an amen?
NOTE: An introductory text sets up the film for us and how it came
about. However, it unintentionally also misleads. It describes
Franklin's remarkable popular success but then claims -- wrongly --that she had enjoyed 11 consecutive #1 hits on the pop and r and bcharts, from "I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You) to "SpanishHarlem." She had indeed scored 11 #1 hits on one or both of those
charts, but they weren't consecutive. After three #1 hits in a row on the
r and b charts (with "Respect" also hitting #1 on the pop charts),Franklin's fourth single for Atlantic was "(You Make Me Feel Like) ANatural Woman," which peaked at #8 on the pop charts and #2 on ther and b charts. Later, "The House That Jack Built" also peaked at #2,"See Saw" peaked at #9 and so on. Franklin released twenty singles
from her Atlantic debut through January of 1972 when she recording
the gospel album Amazing Grace. And yes, eleven of them hit #1 on ther and b charts. (She would enjoy ten more #1 hits in the US, includinga duet with George Michael that was her only song to hit #1 on the popcharts but not do the same in r and b.) In the 1990s, she also had three
#1 hits on the US dance charts. That's an amazing record and needs no
exaggerating.
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the creator of BookFilter, a book
lover’s best friend. It’s a website that lets you browse for books online the
way you do in a physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new
releases every week in every category and offers passionate personal
recommendations every step of the way. He’s also the cohost of Showbiz
Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on
entertainment news of the day with top journalists and opinion makers as
guests. It’s available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called
Popsurfing and also available for free on iTunes.
POSTED BY MICHAEL GILTZ AT 12:31 AM
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 07, 2018
MOVIES: "Amazing" Aretha
AMAZING GRACE **** out of ****
FILM FORUM
Ok, in general I want audiences to behave themselves. We're here to
watch the movie, not you! No cell phones, no texting, no chatting. But
that's not really true. Movie-watching is a communal experience andwhen the movie's a comedy, an audience laughing along makes it thatmuch funnier. At a tense moment in a thriller, we hold our breath. Andsometimes, at a concert film, we...react. We clap or we let loose some
sound of appreciation; we are present. The very first film I ever saw at
a screening for critics was Stop Making Sense. I was in an empty
theater in Gainesville, Florida and it was so damn good I practicallyclapped along even though I was alone and had never (yet) listened to
a single Talking Heads album. When I saw a restored print of
The Last
Waltz at the late, lamented Ziegfeld Theatre (w Martin Scorsese in
attendance), the audience cheered each number as if they were at an
actual live concert. Who could blame them, with performances that
good? When I saw Jazz On A Summer's Day at Lincoln Center, the
hep cats snapped their fingers and burst into cheers at the end of
Anita O'Day's legendary "Tea For Two."
So while I was thoroughly transported, agog and beside myself when
(finally!) watching Amazing Grace -- the documentary film capturing
Aretha Franklin's live recording of her legendary gospel album -- it
was not exactly an ideal audience. A dozen sleepy critics on a weekdaymorning and not an "Amen" from one of them. No thank you. I wantto see Amazing Grace again with a paying audience that is ready to
take part, to applaud, to uh-huh, to laugh and be swept up in one ofthe best concert films in history. Quiet contemplation is not on theagenda.
I've waited decades to see this film, which was filmed way back in 1972MICHAEL GILTZ AT WORK
Michael Giltz is a freelance writer
based in NYC and can be reached atmgiltz@pipeline.com
FAVORITE LINKS
Americablog
Five O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's Blog
The Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPN
Radio
Cine-Blog -- George Robinson's Blog
Documents On Art & Cinema - Daryl
Chin's Blog
Brucie G's Wondrous Blog Of
Adventure and Mystery -- Bruce
Greenspan's Blog
BLOG ARCHIVE
► 2019 (7)
▼ 2018 (34)
▼ December (7)
and then bedeviled by technical issues and then rights issues for 46
years. I bought Franklin's legendary gospel album when it came out on
compact disc and the liner notes from that original 1972 release weremaddeningly enigmatic. Apparently, a young Sydney Pollack hadcaptured the two nights of recording on film -- the liner notes said so!
Just as clearly, the film had never surfaced. What the heck happened?
Years of mystery followed until details leaked out: Pollack had failed tosync image and sound with clapboards and it was literally impossibleto match them. When technology finally caught up, Pollack handed thewhole mess over to Alan Elliott who struggled and labored over the
project for ages until he and editor Jeff Buchanan finally delivered a
finished film. Now finally, it is making an Oscar qualifying run at FilmForum. The movie will have stiff, stiff competition but it isunquestionably worthy of winning Documentary and if Buchanan isn't
at least nominated for Best Editing, Pollack should roll over in his
grave.
How could it possibly match decades of anticipation? Heck, OrsonWelles couldn't do it when his long-lost film
The Other Side of The
Wind finally surfaced. Well it does. Amazing Grace is exactly what I
was hoping for, even if I didn't know it. It captures two nights ofperformance, showing a somewhat nervous and tense Franklin whononetheless delivers from the first note of the first song on the first
night and never looks back. (On night two she is notably more
relaxed, if still wholly focused on singing and ignoring the countlessdistractions whirling around her.
Pollack is everywhere, as are a seeming army of people wielding 16mm
cameras. He urges one to capture a wide shot, points others to goodangles, discusses segueing from a rehearsal of a song into the actualperformance (which is exactly what the film does) and so on. It'sgorgeously shot but not in the strikingly beautiful way of say a
performance piece like Stop Making Sense. It's more like cinema
verité, raw and beautiful, with the cameras finding the right point ofThe Movies, Books, Theater,
Concerts, CDs I Saw In...
TV and Film Must Watch List
THEATER: "Network" Has A
Star, But No Show
THEATER: "The Prisoner" Can't
Get Free
THEATER: Ruben and Clay's
Holiday TV Special (Minu...
MOVIES: "Amazing" ArethaTHEATER: Time For Stoppard
To Stop?; A "Prom" To F...
► November (4)
► October (6)
► September (1)
► May (5)
► April (6)
► March (4)
► February (1)
► 2017 (6)
► 2016 (2)
► 2015 (14)
► 2014 (2)
► 2013 (5)
► 2012 (18)
► 2011 (15)
► 2010 (10)
► 2009 (43)
► 2008 (86)
► 2007 (781)
► 2006 (2412)
► 2005 (5)
view and sticking with i and the lighting capturing Franklin and the
mostly black choir, musicians and audience in every glorious shade
under the sun. (No easy trick, especially without the lighting ever
seeming harsh.) And what a talented bunch to film. Gospel great Rev.
James Cleveland is a treat, whether introducing Franklin, schoolingthe audience on how to behave around the cameras, playing the pianoor singing along. Just as magnetic is the Southern CaliforniaCommunity Choir, led by a young man named Alexander Hamilton (!),
who has so much personality as he leads them and interacts with
Aretha that it's a joy to watch. Individual choir singers stick in yourmemory like friends, along with audience members (who dance in theaisles when the spirit moves them) or the celebrities in attendance like
Aretha's father (who makes his presence known) or gospel great Clara
Ward (who whoops in appreciation at various points on night two).
Every detail feels right, even the bizarre fact that the New Temple
Missionary Baptist Church in Watts, California wasn't filled to therafters with people. (Apparently, they failed to get the word out?
Though you'd think even a whisper that Aretha was singing would be
enough to line folk up around the block.) So it's frustrating to think mysix year old self might have wandered in, slipped into a seat in a backpew (near Mick Jagger) and been taken to a higher ground. But it'salso kind of beautiful that the church isn't full, that this isn't an
"event" choreographed down to its every detail, but a gathering of
people creating a beautiful noise and above all worshipping.
The clothes, the attitude, the raw human feel of the 16mm film stock --
it all just works. And of course there's Aretha. I can imagine singers
studying certain moments of this film just to see how she's doing what
she does, the way her mouth and tongue and breathing are sobeautifully controlled in building up a moment and then bringing itback down and then building it back up again.
It's a thrill from start to finish but a climax comes at the end of night
one when Aretha tackles that old warhorse "Amazing Grace." Yes,there's a reason the album is titled after it. Aretha dives in and herperformance is so moving, so meaningful, so completely the opposite
of a diva showing off and instead the sound of someone moved to
rapture while exploring with her artistry exactly what she can do withthis melody at this moment in time with this choir and this audienceand it just...flies. The choir has been seated throughout the evening.But you know why a choir is seated, don't you? They're seated so thatwhen they STAND UP, you will feel it as a momentous event. They
don't actually stand up as a group, on cue. Here, they simply begin to
rise up out of their seats one by one in appreciation, roaring theirapproval as Aretha soars above them. They leap and laugh and raisetheir hands and sit back down again to wipe away tears. Rev.
Cleveland himself steps away from the piano and takes a seat on the
side, covering his head with a handkerchief, seemingly overwhelmedwith emotion. The choir director Hamilton takes over on piano andafter composing himself Cleveland takes over directing the choir as
Aretha's masterful, transcendent performance comes to a close. I've
heard this classic performance many times on disc but seeing the high
drama, the intense joy, the sheer spectacle of it all as it was happeningall those many years ago was breathtaking.
Don't get me wrong. Cleveland is a performer. Maybe he gets so moved
during every service he must step aside and compose himself. I've
never seen him in concert -- or in church -- before. But if that's aperformance, he's a method actor because he was feeling it. And with
Aretha singing her heart -- or should I say her soul -- out, who can
doubt it? Can I get an amen?
NOTE: An introductory text sets up the film for us and how it came
about. However, it unintentionally also misleads. It describes
Franklin's remarkable popular success but then claims -- wrongly --that she had enjoyed 11 consecutive #1 hits on the pop and r and bcharts, from "I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You) to "SpanishHarlem." She had indeed scored 11 #1 hits on one or both of those
charts, but they weren't consecutive. After three #1 hits in a row on the
r and b charts (with "Respect" also hitting #1 on the pop charts),Franklin's fourth single for Atlantic was "(You Make Me Feel Like) ANatural Woman," which peaked at #8 on the pop charts and #2 on ther and b charts. Later, "The House That Jack Built" also peaked at #2,"See Saw" peaked at #9 and so on. Franklin released twenty singles
from her Atlantic debut through January of 1972 when she recording
the gospel album Amazing Grace. And yes, eleven of them hit #1 on ther and b charts. (She would enjoy ten more #1 hits in the US, includinga duet with George Michael that was her only song to hit #1 on the popcharts but not do the same in r and b.) In the 1990s, she also had three
#1 hits on the US dance charts. That's an amazing record and needs no
exaggerating.
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the creator of BookFilter, a book
lover’s best friend. It’s a website that lets you browse for books online the
way you do in a physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new
releases every week in every category and offers passionate personal
recommendations every step of the way. He’s also the cohost of Showbiz
Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on
entertainment news of the day with top journalists and opinion makers as
guests. It’s available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called
Popsurfing and also available for free on iTunes.
POSTED BY MICHAEL GILTZ AT 12:31 AM
NO COMMENTS:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)Newer Post Older Post Home