It was summer 2000, on the eve of the Australian Olympiad, and the story on the silver screen was "One Day In September," the Oscar-winning documentary about the terrorist attack in the 1972 Munich Olympic Village. It was such a great film, I watched again twice before returning stateside.
Macdonald packed 94 minutes with deep history and surprising interviews all in the five-ringed context.
So, when news arrived that "Whitney" -- billed as a family-authorized Whitney Houston documentary -- got assembled with Macdonald's skilled craftsmanship, my curiosity piqued and I started counting the days to its July 6 release.
How would the director weave in Houston's Olympic anthem "One Moment In Time," I wondered.
And would the film billed as "an intimate, unflinching portrait" at last reveal both when and how the singer/actress met her husband Bobby Brown?
In "Whitney" (now available streaming and on DVD) Macdonald does deliver the goods on Houston in many interesting and revealing ways -- it is so well done, I've already watched it thrice.
As in "One Day In September" there's no way around the tragic ending, and Macdonald treats the subject's troubling spiral head-on sans varnish. There's great, surprising interviews, and amazing footage of Houston's best performances around the world, starting with her showstopping national TV debut, many of which were new for this longtime fan.
For more about what "Whitney" does include, please jump ahead seven paragraphs.
Though Carl Lewis taking an L.A. Olympic victory lap appears in a montage of 80's nostalgia, much to my disappointment, "Whitney" does not include reference to "One Moment In Time," Houston's Seoul Olympic anthem and her seventh single to reach No. 1 on Billboard's chart for Hot Adult Contemporary songs.
In fact, many of the singer's late-80s/early 90s hits are glossed over while the filmmaker focused on Houston's personal life of this period, highlighting tours and TV appearances during which she defended herself from an Al Sharpton-led movement labeling her "Whitey" Houston (ever the publicity hound, Sharpton makes a later appearance, at 180 degrees, praising the singer on the day of her funeral).
The film segues to the common narrative that Houston met and flirted with her future husband Brown during the Soul Train Awards, skipping what I believe to be the real narrative, that Brown met Houston while filming the video and recording for the anti-drug PSA "Stop The Madness" (a close look at the credit roll reveals that Houston and Brown, as part of the band New Edition, willingly participated).
For a peek check the video time stamps of 1:44 (Houston solo), 3:01 (Brown on front row in gray jacket) and 5:06 (end credits listing The New Edition and Whitney Houston as lead vocals).
I am dying to ask Macdonald and his team whether this "Stop The Madness" clip ever met their eyes, and if so, did they ask about it during their interview with Brown or others they captured on film for "Whitney."
Would also love to ask him about the "One Moment In Time" omission. No response to my requests/queries to the Roadside Attractions PR team, so far.
"Whitney" opens with Houston's own voiceover -- from an early-career publicity interview -- with a vivid description of her recurring dream in which the singer runs across a fiercely swinging bridge while chased by an unknown giant.
"That's the devil chasing you," according to Houston's mother, Cissy, later introduced as a backup singer for Aretha Franklin turned matriarch of the East Orange, N.J., home where Whitney and two brothers grew up blocks from racially-divided Newark.
Viewers also meet Whitney's father, aunts (including Dion Warwick and her sister, Dee Dee, sometimes tapped as a babysitter when Cissy traveled in pursuit of her own singing career) and other players of Whitney's youth and early career.
Devoted churchgoers, the Houstons were affectionately named "The Cosbys" of their neighborhood by one Macdonald interviewee, but viewers learn soon enough that choices of infidelity, greed, drug use and other human behaviors all factored as Whitney's star gently rose then took off like a rocket to the moon.
There are many poignant moments, including mother-daughter scenes in which Cissy imparted wisdom and affection for Whitney.
And there are professional milestones presented with the perspectives of agents, producers, stylists, friends and ex-boyfriends, and several light-hearted moments showing Whitney at her most playful and upbeat self. One "get" that I suspect Macdonald wanted was an interview with Robyn Crawford, Whitney's closest confidant from high school to the late 1990s, when a wedge (Brown) created a rift too great to overcome.
Macdonald delves into several darker influences (bullying, racism, drug-using relatives, homophobia) that, all combined, may explain the sharp turns Whitney took around the apex of her success, arguably the months after "The Bodyguard" and the worldwide tour that brought her to meet Nelson Mandela, who dried her tears at their introduction (her performance in Johannesburg stood out for this blogger).
Her private homes, including her childhood abode, an early fame custom-built mansion in a New Jersey forest, and later residence with Brown in Alpharetta, Ga., provide some insightful peeks.
Her private homes, including her childhood abode, an early fame custom-built mansion in a New Jersey forest, and later residence with Brown in Alpharetta, Ga., provide some insightful peeks.
Atlanta's cameo in the film is anything but flattering, but the panoramic drone views of summer in Midtown are spectacular.
Interviews with Brown, L.A. Reid and others who deny discussion or knowledge of Houston's drug use left some audience members dumbfounded.
And much of "Whitney" and the milestones of her addiction are where the film is just plain sad, punctuated by an interview with the personal assistant who found Whitney a Beverly Hilton bathtub. Not a dry eye in the theatre.
There are also many gut-wrenching revelations into the world and demise of Houston's daughter, Bobbi Kristina.
But the big reasons to watch "Whitney" are her astounding live performances as a teenager, energetic and new-to-fame twentysomething and those early 1990s moments in time.
The backstory about her Super Bowl performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" is inspiring.
And her work on "The Bodyguard" is interesting (Macdonald only really touches on this, her first film, and her final film "Sparkle," leaving out "Waiting to Exhale" and "The Preacher's Wife" for unknown reasons -- maybe time as "Whitney" clocks in at exactly two hours).
I was hoping the DVD would include extended interviews with Kevin Costner, her production company leader Debra Martin Chase, or her film agent Nicole David, who seemed to be the only person interested and actively trying to save Whitney from herself and the demons of her addictions.
Loved the original albeit haunting music by Adam Wiltzie that scores some of the most sorrowful moments of Whitney's life.
It's not clear whether Macdonald's latest work will earn the same acclaim as "One Day In September." It would be interesting to see the filmmaker tackle another topic with five-ringed connections.
My suggestion to Macdonald: Enter the Olympic ring again, this time with heavyweight sports documentary filmmakers like Leni Reifenstahl and Bud Greenspan who captured entire Olympiads of competition for the ages. Macdonald as the official O-film director for a "Tokyo Olympiad" sequel in 2020, anyone? Yes, please.
For the longtime Whitney Houston fan or a younger viewer discovering her music, "Whitney" is an excellent and rounded view a life filled with many big moments in time.
Images via Roadside Attractions, Arista, HeyUGuys.com
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment