Film ReviewsCount Those Raindrops
Dec 25, 2015 Anchorage Press
|
|
Amy Berg's documentary Janis: Little Girl Blue presents Janis Joplin with all the care in the world, at once creating a space for Joplin's own words and music to speak for her, and also giving the universe an opportunity to love and mourn her loss 45 years later. New viewers and listeners, and the generations that grew up with Joplin as a defining cultural icon, will gain an intimate understanding of her genius and vulnerability. The documentary starts as soon as the credits roll onto the screen with Joplin's words engaging the viewers from the get-go. Joplin's interviews, journals, letters and other representations of the singer are narrated by Chan Marshall, a.k.a. Cat Power. Janis: Little Girl Blue features footage from Joplin's life, performances and career, as well as interviews with musicians and friends, family, and old chums from Port Arthur, Texas to the Bay area and beyond.
Berg is a strong documentarian, perhaps one of the strongest of the last decade. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Deliver Us From Evil, a documentary about sexual abuse cases in the Catholic Church. Her other films have been just as lauded, including An Open Secret, about teenagers being abused in the film industry; West of Memphis, about the fight to stop the execution of innocent men in Arkansas and sheds light on the case against the "Memphis Three" who were falsely imprisoned; and a handful of others. Viewers should not be surprised if Janis: Little Girl Blue is not only nominated for an Oscar, but actually walks away with a little golden statue or two. Berg's success is rooted in her intellectual dexterity. She's a talented writer and thinker who in addition to filmmaking, contributes to written publications in the US and abroad. Berg's focused approach to documentary filmmaking includes in-depth research that spans years and takes her to wherever her curious mind leads her, even Alaska through the 2007 short documentary Polarized, about Shishmaref and its struggles to find solutions to a quickly-eroding landscape and other negative impacts from climate change.
"Little Girl Blue" is a reference to Joplin's 1969 interpretation of the 1935 song by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. Joplin rearranged the lyrics in her interpretation of the song, but the heart and meaning of the song not only remain intact, the arrangement closely reflects Joplin's state of being.
"Oh sit there, oh count those raindrops
Ah my unhappy, my unlucky
And my little, oh, girl blue.
I know you're unhappy,
Ooh ah, honey I know "
Janis: Little Girl Blue leads viewers through a map of Joplin's life, from her childhood to her death as a result of an overdose in 1970, and all the musical brilliance in between. The path is straightforward in the sense that it's chronological, but it's anything but simple; Berg has enough of a sensitivity to pick up on major themes and concepts that form Joplin and recur throughout her life, making the reference to the "Little Girl Blue" even more prominent and heartbreaking. Joplin was bullied as a kid, and even when she discovered her voice and moved to Austin the cruelty of those around her continued, misshaping her sense of self-worth and desire to be happy as her ultimate ambition. Despite her difficult experiences, Joplin found herself in her music and it was from this place of refuge that she communicated her experiences with the world. She was incredibly self-aware, as reflected in the correspondence with her family, and if ignorance is bliss, then it's no wonder Joplin was in so much pain-because she knew what would make her happy and she also knew that it was unattainable. Janis: Little Girl Blue provides a glimpse, aided by Joplin herself, at how that little girl became Janis Joplin, and how she found herself, by the tender age of 25 having changed the world of music and opened doors for women musicians forever.
Janis: Little Girl Blue is not just compelling and heartbreaking, it's also delightful because it places viewers dead center in a crucial time and place in history-San Francisco in the 1960s. The film shows the intricate interconnections of musical greats like Bob Dylan, Otis Redding, The Grateful Dead, and of course Big Brother and the Holding Company, Joplin's breakthrough band. The footage of Joplin's performances alone is reason enough to see Janis: Little Girl Blue. Joplin is at her best on stage, her voice is her freedom, and it's so transformative that it mesmerizes audiences. She unfolds with every note, she whispers and screams; but even the latter, which take listeners to the edge, never falter. Berg tells Joplin's story so well and lovingly that viewers feel close to her and her music. In this way, they suffer when Joplin suffers, and mourn her when she stops counting the raindrops.
Janis: Little Girl Blue shows at Bear Tooth on Monday, January 4 at 7:50 p.m.
Berg is a strong documentarian, perhaps one of the strongest of the last decade. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Deliver Us From Evil, a documentary about sexual abuse cases in the Catholic Church. Her other films have been just as lauded, including An Open Secret, about teenagers being abused in the film industry; West of Memphis, about the fight to stop the execution of innocent men in Arkansas and sheds light on the case against the "Memphis Three" who were falsely imprisoned; and a handful of others. Viewers should not be surprised if Janis: Little Girl Blue is not only nominated for an Oscar, but actually walks away with a little golden statue or two. Berg's success is rooted in her intellectual dexterity. She's a talented writer and thinker who in addition to filmmaking, contributes to written publications in the US and abroad. Berg's focused approach to documentary filmmaking includes in-depth research that spans years and takes her to wherever her curious mind leads her, even Alaska through the 2007 short documentary Polarized, about Shishmaref and its struggles to find solutions to a quickly-eroding landscape and other negative impacts from climate change.
"Little Girl Blue" is a reference to Joplin's 1969 interpretation of the 1935 song by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. Joplin rearranged the lyrics in her interpretation of the song, but the heart and meaning of the song not only remain intact, the arrangement closely reflects Joplin's state of being.
"Oh sit there, oh count those raindrops
Ah my unhappy, my unlucky
And my little, oh, girl blue.
I know you're unhappy,
Ooh ah, honey I know "
Janis: Little Girl Blue leads viewers through a map of Joplin's life, from her childhood to her death as a result of an overdose in 1970, and all the musical brilliance in between. The path is straightforward in the sense that it's chronological, but it's anything but simple; Berg has enough of a sensitivity to pick up on major themes and concepts that form Joplin and recur throughout her life, making the reference to the "Little Girl Blue" even more prominent and heartbreaking. Joplin was bullied as a kid, and even when she discovered her voice and moved to Austin the cruelty of those around her continued, misshaping her sense of self-worth and desire to be happy as her ultimate ambition. Despite her difficult experiences, Joplin found herself in her music and it was from this place of refuge that she communicated her experiences with the world. She was incredibly self-aware, as reflected in the correspondence with her family, and if ignorance is bliss, then it's no wonder Joplin was in so much pain-because she knew what would make her happy and she also knew that it was unattainable. Janis: Little Girl Blue provides a glimpse, aided by Joplin herself, at how that little girl became Janis Joplin, and how she found herself, by the tender age of 25 having changed the world of music and opened doors for women musicians forever.
Janis: Little Girl Blue is not just compelling and heartbreaking, it's also delightful because it places viewers dead center in a crucial time and place in history-San Francisco in the 1960s. The film shows the intricate interconnections of musical greats like Bob Dylan, Otis Redding, The Grateful Dead, and of course Big Brother and the Holding Company, Joplin's breakthrough band. The footage of Joplin's performances alone is reason enough to see Janis: Little Girl Blue. Joplin is at her best on stage, her voice is her freedom, and it's so transformative that it mesmerizes audiences. She unfolds with every note, she whispers and screams; but even the latter, which take listeners to the edge, never falter. Berg tells Joplin's story so well and lovingly that viewers feel close to her and her music. In this way, they suffer when Joplin suffers, and mourn her when she stops counting the raindrops.
Janis: Little Girl Blue shows at Bear Tooth on Monday, January 4 at 7:50 p.m.