Toronto 2021 Blog 2

Thanks to the dominance of streaming platforms, the celebrity documentary format has enjoyed a resurgence in the last couple of years. Fans have always been extremely- and illogically- curious about the secrets and lives of their favorite entertainers. The popularity of social media has decimated the measured distance between celebrities and fans such that it has become easier for famous people- looking to push out narratives of their own or set the record straight- to channel their voices. When done right, the celebrity portrait can speak to new audiences beyond the traditional fanbase while challenging preconceived notions.

American singing legend Dionne Warwick who enjoyed great success in the sixties and seventies singing songs written and composed by the duo of Hal David and Burt Bacharach gets the big profile treatment with the TIFF debuting Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over. For this authorized peep into a legendary life and career directed by the duo of Dave Wooley and David Heilbroner, Warwick gets to tell her own story in a format longer than the 140-characters adopted by Twitter where Warwick has enjoyed a late career revival as a wise cracking grand-aunt figure.

Named after her first major hit, Don’t Make Me Over is a handsomely mounted chronicle of facts that includes the insight of some of Warwick’s famous friends and contemporaries. The film places Warwick’s legend in context as well as her struggles as a Black female artiste in the tumultuous sixties. It tracks her contributions to the civil rights discourse and underlines her pioneering HIV/AIDS advocacy, capped by her donation of all profits from her biggest hit, That’s What Friends Are For to HIV/AIDs research.

Because Don’t Make Me Over dedicates a lot of time to reintroducing Warwick to a new generation and contextualizing her career, it is easy to miss out on the fact that the documentary skimps on some of the most controversial parts of her life- her divorce, rift with Bacharach, bankruptcy- that may have made for a more rounded narrative. But then again with a life as full as Warwick has lived, one 95-minute film is merely the start of the story.

Avoiding the usual celebrity documentary pitfalls that dog Don’t Make Me Over, another TIFF premiering documentary of an influential musical figure cuts through the chase and zeroes in on a significant era in the artiste’s life.

Jagged, to be aired on HBO in November as part of Bill Simmons’ Music Box series is directed by Alison Klayman (Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry.) The documentary tracks the rise of nineties superstar, pop-rocker Alanis Morissette as she grows from her modest Ottawa origins to become one of the bestselling acts of the nineties with her juggernaut album Jagged Little Pill. Since its 1995 release, Jagged Little Pill has sold 33 million copies globally and has aged quite well, inspiring a hit Broadway rock musical.

More cutting than the conventional biopic, Jagged– made with Morissette’s full participation- explores the cultural impact of the record and its string of chart-topping feminist anthems including Ironic and You Oughta Know. Klayman delves into more complex situations like what it was like being a teenager in the music business and gets Morissette to open up about the sexual abuse and eating disorders she suffered.

An added layer of complexity is introduced with Morissette speaking on the contradictions of singing empowering anthems for women on one hand and standing by helplessly while her all-male band members engaged in less than acceptable behavior on the road.

Jagged is a snapshot of a specific era in music history and a talented artiste’s extraordinary journey. In her interviews, the now 47-year-old Morissette appears open and eager to share her reflections. It comes as a surprise then that ahead of the festival premiere, Morissette denounced the documentary as “salacious” and declined to participate in the promotion. “Not unlike many ‘stories’ and unauthorized biographies out there over the years, this one includes implications and facts that are simply not true.” Morrissette’s publicist noted in a statement.

Expanding the format of the celebrity documentary even wider is the thoroughly entertaining Listening to Kenny G, an enquiry into the nature of musical tastes. Directed by Penny Lane, Listening to Kenny G is also part of HBO’s Music Box series and ponders on the divide between popular and critically acclaimed art.

In the nineties, the solo instrumentalist Kenny G became one of the world’s bestselling music stars with inescapable tunes like Songbird and Silhouette. Kenny G was so popular, one of his songs, Going Home became China’s unofficial workday closing anthem.

In a funny twist, Kenny G is almost as critically loathed as he is endearingly popular, derided by purists for his style which takes the basics of jazz music but works them into something pleasurable and inoffensive enough to generate immense commercial appeal. Easy listening is how his music was labelled. Lane interviews a cross section of musicians, critics and scholars to understand the artistic conundrum that is Kenny G.

The uber-famous saxophonist seems in on the film’s joke too as he has developed skin that is impervious to the criticism. He hears them and makes half-hearted attempts to defend himself against accusations of appropriation and artistic laziness. But Kenny G ultimately comes across as a privileged guy who is just grateful for the opportunities he’s been handed. He is a big fan of practice though and is constantly working on improving his technique. With his most commercially profitable years behind him, Kenny G appears ready to attempt more demanding material. But who is he doing this for? His fans already love him just as he is.