Ashamedly, I've been away from writing this blog and have only returned for brief periods now and again. Now, a combination of regret and need to return to it will hopefully spur me into writing on a much more regular basis. I've decided to not really limit myself anymore. Where I used to mainly do reviews of Criterion films or recent theatrical releases, I've now decided to write a little each day about something I've watched - be it a film or a TV episode or a weird commercial or even something I saw on YouTube or Twitch. I need to write more, I want to write more, I am going to write more. And I'm starting right now!
This year's Academy Awards marked a personal milestone for me. Most years I will see maybe all but one of the films nominated for best picture and usually I have a semi well rounded idea about which actors and actresses I think deserve the major acting role wins. However, more often than not because of where I live, I rarely get to see any of the films nominated for Best Documentary or Best Foreign film. This year that was not the case! While the foreign films continue to elude me, thanks to Netflix by the time the red carpet was rolled out for the Oscars, I had seen all but one of the films nominated for Best Documentary.
That one? Morgan Neville's 20 Feet from Stardom. And guess which film won.
So, while I stewed in my anger that Joshua Oppenheimer's The Act of Killing didn't win, I vowed that whenever I got the chance to see 20 Feet from Stardom, I would see what all the fuss was about. This month, I was given that opportunity. 20 Feet from Stardom is now streaming on Netflix and though I still don't see how it won out over The Act of Killing on pure quality alone, I definitely think it warrants a watch from anyone interested in music, music documentaries or if you're simply looking for something entertaining with lots of "stand and cheer" appeal.
In the film, Neville - who is known primarily for his numerous American Masters and Biography entries - shines the spotlight on a select group of African American women - including Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Claudia Lennear, Tata Vega, Judith Hill and Lisa Fischer - who have spent most of their careers in the shadows of such giants as Michael Jackson, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Sting, David Bowie and Bruce Springsteen. These are the women whose "ooh"s and "lah"s we all tone deafly repeat in the shower. These are the hardworking women who have formed the backbone of classic tunes for decades. They brought depth and soul to some of the most memorable songs of the rock 'n' roll era and for whatever reason never quite "made it" on their own.
20 Feet from Stardom asks a variety of thought provoking questions. Why have some of the best vocalist of the last half-century remained virtually unknown except to music aficionados? Are there requirements for pop success that these women simply do not have? Or is the system weighted too heavily against them? Lisa Fischer, who is clearly the most talented of all the women featured, is shown to have an otherworldly voice and a winning personality. She sang back up for Luther Vandross and even won her own Grammy for a solo album. Is she simply too nice for the cutthroat business that is music? Or is success based on dumb luck?
It's a question that occurs again and again with these women from the youngest, Judith Hill, who is still struggling to make her dreams come true to Claudia Lennear, whose solo tracks for the 1970's are presented as unearthed treasures. All of these women are shown to have ample talent. They all made a play for the front of the stage and they all, after after failing to grasp it, retreated to the back once more.
The story that, in my opinion, forms the backbone of the film however, is a little different. Darlene Love's story (she's the one who sang her thank yous at the Oscars) of exploitation at the hands of record produce Phil Spector (you know, that guy with the ridiculous wigs who is in jail for shooting that one woman in the face) is more of the classic overcoming the odds tale. Before the age of 20, Darlene was singing - and singing lead - as part of the famous "girl group" tracks of the 1960's. However, despite the success of her music, her name was never released to the public. She got screwed so bad legally that she spent years as a cleaning woman despite literally everyone and their grandmother having hummed along to one of her tunes at one point or another. Her eventual triumphant return (thanks in no small part to her appearances on David Letterman at at the now defunct NYC nightclub The Bottom Line) on her own terms marks an emotional high point of the film and one that demonstrates why the film took off as well as it did.
Neville is no amateur when it comes to musical bio-docs. Having made films - some made for cable or stations like PBS, some made for theatrical release - about Brian Wilson, Iggy Pop, Johnny Cash and many others, he clearly knows exactly what he is doing. As a film, 20 Feet from Stardom sticks mostly to the stylistic basics. For the most part, Neville rests upon tastefully shot interviews slickly edited with some great archival footage. Occasionally, he will add an artistic touch as with how he shoots Lisa Fischer running errands in her everyday street clothes or when he loving shoots Darlene Love singing in-studio with backup vocalists of her own. In a few scenes, we see Fischer simply riffing as the camera, close up, captures all the emotions that crawl across her face as she produces some of the most hauntingly beautiful sounds I have ever heard.
Despite these occasional touches, Neville's clear strength is as a historian. He is able to expertly sift through a wealth of details to find exactly what pieces he needs to tell a singular, compelling narrative. In 20 Feet from Stardom, he starts with the moment when black singers began to first infiltrate an up until that point segregated industry, liberating backup vocalization from the once drab, sheet music reading of the 40's and 50's. It goes on to document the importance of various figures like Ray Charles with his Raylettes up through the hey day of the 70's and 80's where musicians of all genres were paying through the nose to get that necessary shot of soul into their music. Neville then contrasts that to today, an era where cheap digital recording and auto tune have made specialists less desirable. Why spend money on professionals when a machine bought at Best Buy can transform grandma's hooks and melodies into exactly what you need.
However, Neville's clear strength as a historian also highlights one of the biggest problems with the film - namely that he isn't much of an investigative journalist or a critic. As I stated earlier, 20 Feet from Stardom raises a lot of pointed and interesting questions - like whether or not the industry will only let a certain number of black artists or women excel; like whether background vocalists have been exploited throughout the years for their sex appeal or their race; and like whether or not an overpowering voice alone is enough to cement one's spot at center stage. Unfortunately, most of these questions are presented and then answered with some mix of shrugging and vague statements about poor timing and bad packaging. Interesting moments like discussions of uncomfortable songs like Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side" with its lyric about "coloured girl" backup singers and of Phil Spector's and Ike Turner's sleazy exploitation of these innocent girls are quickly brushed under the rug. At one point, a trio of backup singers are singing a rendition of "Up Where We Belong" around a table and instead of accenting each other, they all attempt to take the lead essentially killing the song. It's one of the most fascinating and explanatory moments in the film and Neville does nothing with it. As with his focus on young Judith Hill's journey, which he portrays more as heroic than overly idealistic, Neville often strives too hard to remain upbeat.
But, then again, many of his subjects are upbeat. Many of them come to the realization of what a unique and rewarding job they've had and, after so much time to reflect on it, seem to have grown to appreciate it. And ultimately I think that's the point of 20 Feet from Stardom. It isn't trying to argue that these women should be stars. It's arguing that their significant contributions to the music industry as backup vocalists should be recognized and celebrated. That's why the most interesting person in the film and who I believe is actually the "star" is Lisa Fischer. The lady with mind blowing talent who, after an unsuccessful run at fame, took her ethereal voice back into the shadows. But she isn't bitter in the least. She instead boasts about all the great songs she has gotten to sing and all the amazing people she has gotten to sing them with.
Yes, the film does get repetitive at times. Yes, it can feel a little too upbeat and maybe a little manipulative. And yes, perhaps it would have been more interesting if it would have went more in depth on some of the more politically charged questions it hints at. (It is definitely a better film when it sticks to telling frank stories.) However, it is a film that is rich in pull-back-the-curtains moments and will introduce you to a world that you probably weren't too aware of but of which you definitely should be. Because in a world where the biggest, richest stars are auto tuned to oblivion, where a leaked, isolated and untouched track of someone reveals they actually sound like a dying cat, we could use more people like Lisa Fischer and all the other women beautifully portrayed in the film. These women deserve recognition. They deserve celebration. And 20 Feet from Stardom is a wonderful starting point.
7.5 out of 10
