Love to Love You, Donna Summer

By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Brooklyn Sudano | Roger Ross Williams

Year: 2023

Running time: 107

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16442822/reference/

Brett says: “The documentary LOVE TO LOVE YOU, DONNA SUMMER accomplishes what most expect from a film about a famous pop icon in offering an audience the familiar trajectory into fame while exposing (part of) the behind-the-scenes person living in the on-stage character’s shadows. Immediately, co-directors Roger Ross Williams and (daughter of Donna Summer) Brooklyn Sudano plunge into the character study with a blush-worthy and enthralling stage show depiction of Summer to set the tone. Coupled with this initial set of starting imagery, the first one-third of the film offers up other stage performances that give attention to audience members at these shows that effectively connect artist and fandom. The effect is a mini-religious experience as theater-goers time-travel to these raw and very personal experiences between audience and music. 

“The directors also bookend the film with a very well-placed final stamp to give both beginning and final sequence a sharp edge. That final sequence was produced and polished up like Summer herself was with her own audiences, so it is fitting that it didn’t happen contextually as portrayed with the juxtaposition of so many other elements at play that the film has set up, but it’s a perfect correlation for her film audience in that moment, just like the artist herself was for her musical audiences. 

“The opening of the film doesn’t stay zoomed in on the stage side of Summer very long, offering home video footage to show two sides of this same complicated coin. The film does not offer voice-over narration, but instead juxtaposes interview audio (both from Summer and family), music, and her on-screen productions with visual imagery and montage to create a new language to Summer’s song catalog and persona. By doing so, the film keeps people in the moment, in the era. Modernity is more of a cloud or fog and takes a backseat while Summer and the culture of the time puts a blanket over the here and now. 

“The film tries to tap into one aspect of Summer’s fandom and uses the word multiple times in the documentary: insecurity. However, how much insecurity is the audience really getting exposed to when midway through the film, the involvement of family on this project really starts to become evident? It’s not that the film has to reveal some deep, dark secret that no one else has ever uncovered, but it does stand out that the film subject is guarded and protected by the film-makers under the guise of calling this movie a full expose’ from the ones who really knew. On the toughest issues and deepest personal side of the performer, general commentary and general acknowledgement seem to annotate that half of Summer at times rather than offering any of the most real insights that would seem to come from being inside the family dynamic in those moments. While it’s true that the archival footage is definitely present and plentiful–heart-warming and a window into a different offstage persona even–it eventually becomes clear that this is the “showroom” and not the stuff they “keep in the back,” so to speak. There are even a few instances in her personal life that fans of Donna Summer are aware of that don’t get a mention in the film at all, which seemed like a confusing choice. The film references a room none of the family was ever allowed into as children, and it seems like the door on part of the character remains locked for fans as well. 

“Perhaps one of the more overt reveals that is  evident from the film is how involved in the production of her own music Summer was. One could still argue that this was a selective form of storytelling in the way the directors approach this, but there certainly were aspects of her songs that she had a major hand in creating, and it is a joyride to see this creative side of the performer amplified. The emotional tug of that is also in experiencing how little of that the record label was willing to acknowledge and credit while using her persona to fulfill their own goals. 

“There is certainly enough of the performer and person alike to make this a worthwhile viewing.  Perhaps one of the most startling revelations that can come from the vast amount of performance footage is being able to see other performers that followed in her work when viewing the source material in her prime. Selena, Beyoncé, Madonna, and Lady Gaga had no mentions in the film, but if one is familiar with those artists and their work, it is like seeing the winds that shaped significant parts of this one and a significant parts of that one and the personas those artists created form themselves right before your very eyes. However, Donna Summer was already all of them at once.”

Chris says: “She’s rightly remembered as ‘The Queen of Disco’ but even that royal moniker only hints at Donna Summer’s talent and starpower. Blessed with a stellar voice and physical beauty to match, one could assume her success as a singer was also a case of ‘right time, right place’, adapting to and then defining a dominant musical genre of her era. This documentary, co-directed by her daughter Brooklyn Sudano celebrates Summer but also works diligently to present her as the multifaceted person she was. Most recall her as the woman who orgiastically cooed ‘Love to Love You Baby’ and belted ‘Last Dance’, but she was also an innovative artist whose contributions to her hit singles and elaborate concept albums far exceeded that primary impression—cue the footage of her vocally coming up with the mechanical electronic rhythm that would define her seminal synth-pop opus “I Feel Love” or the many transformative live performances which she often approached with the meticulousness of a serious actor.

“Constructing the film with an extensive assortment of archival footage (both visual and aural), first-time filmmaker Sudano runs the risk of incoherence; at times, the final product does feel a little scattered, stuffing so much content into a feature-length frame. I suspect her co-director, Roger Ross Williams (an Academy Award winner for LIFE, ANIMATED) provides crucial support in shaping it into a mostly satisfying trajectory. One of their most distinct and effective decisions is to relegate all modern-day interviews to audio only (similar to the recent docuseries 1971: THE YEAR THAT MUSIC CHANGED EVERYTHING) which keeps the focus laser-sharp on Summer and also preserves the audience firmly in her own time frame (she passed away from lung cancer in 2012.) The only real glimpses of the present are shots of Sudano sifting through all of her mother’s artifacts—less an indulgence than a loose framing device expressing her personal connection to the material.

“In the Q&A after this screening, Sudano mentioned that she didn’t want to make a puff piece or a BEHIND THE MUSIC-style overview; the film certainly doesn’t shy away from darker moments of Summer’s life, nor does it gloss over such controversies as her becoming a born-again Christian at the dawn of the 1980s. Also addressed is the backlash she received from the gay community over homophobic song lyrics that spiraled into rumors distressing not only her fanbase but also herself. But that self was alternately (and often simultaneously) a glitzy, commandeering diva, a campy goofball, a devoted but visibly exhausted mother, an introspective wanderer. Similarly, this ambitious, near-exhaustive portrait is a love letter, a critical assessment, a fanciful but also far-reaching collage. Like its subject, it leaves a mark. 4 cats

Tom M. says: “The Donna doc was Ok, needed more nuance and focus than just A then B and how it was in the house, great POV but I think it could have put its subject into greater, more impactful context, emotional and passionate, no Q.”