By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Liz Garbus
Country: united_states
Year: 2015
Running time: 101
IMDB: https://chlotrudis.org/review/index
Diane says: “Multi-Grammy-winning jazz musician Nina Simone wanted nothing but to be the first female black concert pianist. This doc draws on a wealth of concert videos and interviews to tell her story: playing in her mother’s church at age 4, not being accepted into music school because of her skin color, marrying a violent man who became her manager, losing popularity as she pushed for civil rights in performances, losing herself to manic depression, being brought back to her career by friends and fellow musicians. The film uses plenty of Simone’s recordings so that each phase of the story is led into and accompanied by relevant songs.
“Interesting to have this and AMY in the same year: two very talented and fragile artists pushed to the edge by people whose livelihood depended on their work. Substantive, with judicious choices. 4 cats”