Rating: G
Runtime: 1 hour, 29 minutes
Directors: Allan Eliott and Sydney Pollack
Quick Impressions:
So many films playing this month could either be amazing or abysmal. With Easter just around the corner and plenty of spring events making life hectic, I was feeling risk averse and decided, “Let’s watch Amazing Grace. You can’t go wrong with Aretha Franklin singing gospel music for ninety minutes.” I mean, that seems like a pretty safe bet. The film couldn’t possibly be bad. And if somehow it did manage to be a trainwreck, the shock of that would make up for the inconvenience. It would be fun to rail, “How did they possibly screw up Aretha Franklin singing gospel music for ninety minutes?!”
Actually, they did screw it up somehow. Don’t get the wrong idea. This movie is excellent. But the intro informs us that some unspecified technical problem derailed the film’s completion back in 1972. That’s why although Franklin recorded this immensely popular gospel album forty-seven years ago, the public is only now seeing this riveting video footage.
The trailer for Amazing Grace has intrigued me for a while. It gives you the impression that the film is just Franklin performing “Amazing Grace” for ninety minutes. I thought, “Just what kind of vocal flourishes can she be adding to stretch the song out that long?” I knew that couldn’t be right, but I had trouble shaking my first impression.
“I’m sure the movie will include other material, too,” my husband said wisely.
We mutually decided that the film must also feature interviews, context, commentary. But guess what? It doesn’t!
Like another acclaimed documentary this spring, Apollo 11, Amazing Grace is comprised entirely of footage from the period. (Must have been some period! I find it fascinating that the two films are basically contemporaneous. They’re from footage taken just three years apart, yet they’re showing events worlds apart. (I intended that as a metaphor, but much of Apollo 11 does literally take place our of this world.))
This seems like a new trend in documentary, though maybe I have that impression because I’ve now seen two like this so close together. I think of them as time travel documentaries because you really do feel like a fly on the wall witnessing historical events. We’re getting a slice of life in the most literal way film can provide it. A better name for them, actually, would be found footage documentaries. (But I still like the idea of being an unseen time traveler.)
The Good:
For authenticity, this film simply can’t be beat. I woke up feeling like I spent the evening at New Bethel Baptist Church, hearing Aretha Franklin sing with the choir, listening to her father preach (though, actually, he says a few gracious words rather than delivering a sermon).
The recreation of the world of this Baptist Church in 1972 LA is flawless because it’s not a recreation. The footage existed, and someone finally made a watchable film out of it. (I’m extremely curious about what went wrong with the film originally. The movie doesn’t go into detail.)
As I watched, I thought to myself, “Aretha Franklin had one of the most iconic voices of my lifetime. Have I ever seen her perform before?” This seems impossible, but I can only recall seeing Franklin perform on one other occasion, when she filled in for Pavarotti at some important event. (I can’t remember what that was, just that he was ill, and Franklin was performing around the corner and graciously agreed to step in for him at a moment’s notice. At the time, I thought, “Aretha Franklin is filling in for Pavarotti? That’s as crazy as the time Pavarotti filled in for one of the Spice Girls!” (I saw that performance, too. I know almost nothing about the musical world. I never go to concerts or have any idea which albums truly deserve the accolades. But I always seem to be watching whenever Pavarotti is up to some shenanigans. I miss Pavarotti.)
That’s one reason I wanted to watch Amazing Grace. My knowledge of musical artists and trends is so spotty and deficient. And I know almost nothing about 1972. (I mean, I know Watergate happened, and The Godfather came out, but that’s a period piece. As far as pop culture goes, that year 1972 is only alive for me because of Sesame Street, which this film kept making me fondly recall. At the outset, Amazing Grace is a lot like Sesame Street. We begin with a grimy urban landscape (LA in this case, not New York), and then a famous celebrity appears and sings beautiful songs to me).
Not surprisingly, this film also reminded me of church. I’m Catholic now, but I was raised in an Independent/Disciples of Christ tradition, and my parents were frequently involved in church music (choir, guitar, piano, children’s worship). Most of the church music Franklin performs is extremely familiar to me (though the hymns and songs are arranged differently from the way we used to sing them).
The film covers a recording session broken into two parts. For me, the highlight from the first night of the two-evening event is the brilliant mash-up of “You’ve Got a Friend” and “Precious Lord, Take My Hand.” I grew up singing the secular song “You’ve Got a Friend,” too, because when I asked my dad to buy me the Cocktail soundtrack, instead he got me Anne Murray’s Greatest Hits (and also The Beach Boys Greatest Hits, to be fair). I’m also very familiar with James Taylor’s version of the song. (As a child, I knew him from Sesame Street.)
You might be saying to yourself, “Weren’t you already familiar with these arrangements from listening to Franklin’s gospel album?” The answer is no. Until seeing this film, I had no idea that Aretha Franklin’s gospel album even existed or that it was such a huge success. I’ve never heard it (well, I mean, I guess I have now). What I don’t know about music is just staggering!
As good as Franklin’s singing is (and I mean, she’s phenomenal), I found the mesmerizing cadence of both pastors equally riveting. My husband felt the same way. I wish we had heard more from Franklin’s father and from the Reverend James Cleveland.
I loved the latter’s charming riff on “technical difficulties,” and I also found his set up of “Amazing Grace” so compelling and enlightening. I’ve always thought of the song as metaphorically describing spiritual dangers, but clearly Reverend Cleveland and many in his congregation have far more tangible concerns in mind. (I must note that imdb calls him Reverand, but every other source I can find uses the traditional spelling of Reverend. I can’t remember the spelling used in the film’s credits.)
Choir director Alexander Hamilton (not that Alexander Hamilton) absolutely deserves more screentime. I love his energy. I could have watched him all night. Some of the congregants moved by the spirit are pretty fascinating to watch, too. At one point, something appears to go wrong with one of these dancers, but I’m not sure exactly what the problem is.
The first big shock of the film for me was seeing Sydney Pollack moving dynamically through the opening scenes. The opening captions confirmed I was not crazy, then explained that he was the original director of the film. It surprised me so much to see him there since Pollack is not someone I associate with Aretha Franklin. I never knew about this abandoned film project.
Best Scene:
Even though the film is called “Amazing Grace,” and Franklin’s performance of that song on night one of the event is extremely powerful, I strongly prefer the second night of the concert. For one thing, the place is packed. The size of the audience quadruples at least. (I’d say “the congregation” except that many of these people clearly have come into the church just to watch Franklin’s performance.) I’m not sure what changed from one evening to the next. Did word of mouth that Aretha Franklin was singing at this church cause the crowd to grow? Did Franklin approach the first evening as more of a warm up or trial, saving special guests for the second night? Did producers recruit a bigger crowd the second night to get more energy inside the building because they found the original crowd disappointing? These are things I wish the film explained.
Regardless of what caused this upswell in attendance, the energy on the second evening of the concert is tremendous, and, in most cases, the songs selected are much faster-paced which is generally what I prefer. (I like a song that inspires me to get speeding tickets.)
The beginning of the second evening of the recording session is my favorite part of the film.
Conspicuously amazing is Franklin’s performance of “Mary, Don’t You Weep.” Obviously she’s great when performing every song, but here the choir is so effective, and the film is also at its strongest creatively.
Best Action Sequence:
And then Mick Jagger shows up. I love the way we think we see him, so then we start looking for him to confirm we’re not crazy. It’s like a game of celebrity Where’s Waldo?! Afterwards, my husband observed with a laugh, “It seems like the camera man is having the same reaction we are, like, ‘Wait! Is that Mick Jagger?! I’d better take a closer look.'”
It really is kind of hilarious. Jagger keeps getting closer, closer, closer (and always more in focus). Finally when he’s sitting in the front row acknowledging the camera, we can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that it’s actually him and we’re not imagining things. It’s just so funny the way he keeps getting closer and closer. I half expected him to be behind the camera himself by the time he finished his advance. It’s like Monty Python!
Best Scene Visually:
The camera work is not wildly inventive, but it’s possible that some of the footage was destroyed or damaged. I felt like I saw people dressed as cameramen sneaking around everywhere. (They really stand out. They look like extras in Godspell.) And yet we don’t get a tremendous variety of perspectives. There’s one nice shot of Franklin’s face from below as she plays the piano. And as she begins to sing “Amazing Grace,” the camera gives us a long look at a painting of Jesus on the wall in front of the Baptistry.
What I really found compelling to look at was Franklin herself. What a voice! But she’s so unassuming, so modest. On the first night, she honestly looks kind of nervous. I thought, “Well it must be nerve-wracking to be recording an album inside a church when you’re the Bible believing daughter of a pastor.” I mean, that’s quite a complex situation to navigate. On the one hand, she wants the authenticity to come through on the album, but on the other hand, she has to be reverent in the church. It’s kind of a weird situation. At this point in her career, Franklin was (and would remain) a huge star, but you don’t typically roll into church like, “I’m God’s gift to humanity! Let’s make a movie!” She doesn’t seem to know quite how she should behave when not singing.
Of course, I could be projecting my own anxious thoughts onto the scene. I don’t know if Franklin actually felt any kind of uneasiness. I just know that she behaves very modestly and seems tentative on the first evening. Then on the second night, she seems more self-possessed. Typically stars who have a voice like Franklin come on stage like, “Well, I’m the most amazing person in the universe, and here I am to put on a show for you.” By contrast, she is extremely unassuming.
Her father, on the other hand, is a natural showman, taking center stage as only a traveling evangelist can. I love moment when he gets up to wipe the sweat from her face.
That fascinated me, too, just how much she would sweat while singing. I only wish that I had such a voice. Imagine singing with such power and intensity and emotion that your face begins pouring sweat. She’s probably under hot lights, but she’s not dancing. In most cases, she’s just standing still and singing. (Occasionally she accompanies herself on the piano.) Its very moving to see how much performing the songs moves her, as if she becomes a vessel for the divine during a sacred ritual (which is actually what is happening since she is moved by the Holy Spirit to perform praise songs using God-given talent in a church.)
The Negatives:
I love the feeling of being a fly on the wall of the New Bethel Baptist Church in 1972. It’s like travelling through time. The experience is awesome.
Still, I am a person obsessed with narrative, so I find myself with so many questions that Amazing Grace doesn’t even attempt to address. The big thing I want to know is why was the film abandoned originally? Does it have to do with the “technical difficulties” on the second evening? How did this new version (produced by Spike Lee) come into being? What was so prohibitive in 1972 that suddenly became a non-issue in 2019? (Or maybe the better question is, what workaround did they find? Why was the film born again? Technological advances? New interest in the project? Did Franklin’s death prompt the undertaking, or was she involved in developing this version of the film? She’s listed as a producer, but that could be because of her involvement in 1972. I wish there were a short “making of” segment tacked on to the movie that gave us these answers.
I will say that this film has made me extremely interested in Aretha Franklin. I hope someone is developing a biopic of her because we need one.
It’s hard to find fault with a documentary that is actually just Aretha Franklin singing for ninety minutes (although as we left the theater, one woman said to her companion, “I’m sorry, but Mahalia Jackson wipes the floor with her,” which I found oddly harsh. I mean, can’t they just both be good? They’re singing gospel songs! It’s not a contest!)
Overall:
If you’re looking for something inspiring and relaxing at the movies this Easter weekend, why not try Amazing Grace? It is literally 90 minutes of Aretha Franklin performing gospel songs with a church choir in 1972. Franklin has such a powerful voice, and obviously, her material is good. There’s really no need for me to comment at all (though you’ll notice I don’t admit this until the end of my review).