What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015)
-Watched in my living room-
I have no idea why this was the opening night film at Eccles for Sundance. Is Nina Simone badass and powerful? Yes. Is the film? No. Crowds seemed to grow wild over this film at festivals this year, and while I see that this could be a somewhat easy general crowd-pleaser, I’m surprised it was programmed in such valuable time-slots.
The film is compromised almost entirely of found-footage, interwoven with present-day interviews of her daughter, niece and two close friends. Even the interview with her ex-husband is old. The editing feels cohesive but basic.
There is a moment in the film where Nina is describing her newfound freedom from the “United Snakes of America” in Liberia, and expresses how even the lightning there makes her feel electric. As if the film wasn’t already full of enough found footage, the filmmakers chose to edit together a montage of found footage lightning storms. Just because we are hearing about lightning does not mean we need to SEE lightning. This moment felt superficial and immature.
Her daughter spoke of Nina’s genius in one breath, and her lack of compassion as a mother in the next. I wondered if her daughter is now a mother, and if so, what kind of mother she is. I wondered how or if one can find a balance between abuse and abandonment with an entire world’s admiration for your mother.
The last quarter of the film was much more engaging and compelling than the rest. It got down to the real heart and soul and the accumulation of all that she had done and had been done to her had taken it’s toll. The beating, the exploitation, the racism. While knowing all of the background on her was necessary, it wasn’t fascinating in a way that could have much of a pull beyond Nina Simone fans. The ending, however, was a humanist story of a woman once on top. struggling to find a path to happiness in a meaningful way.