Country: USA
Year: 2015
Length: 94 min
Age limit: S
Format: DCP
Cinematography: Gary Griffin, Tony Hardmon, Kyle Kibbe
Editing: Jean Tsien, Anne Fratto
Audio: Jonathan Jackson, David Cassidy, Michael Jones
Music: Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Production: Barbara Kopple & David Cassidy/Cabin Creek Films
Language: English
No subtitles
DocPoint, Helsinki, screener link viewed.
© 2015 Bling Productions
Savoy Theatre: Friday 29.1. at 17:00. Kinopalatsi 1: Sunday 31.1. at 14:30
Catalog and website: "When Sharon Jones was young, she was told that she was too short and too dark-skinned to become a successful singer. These days, though, she dances wildly on stage and has been dubbed the ”female James Brown” for her energetic performances."
"When Jones was 57 years old, she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. In this documentary, the award-winning documentarist Barbara Kopple follows the American artist on her emotional journey through chemotherapy and her ultimate return on the stage in her hometown of New York City. We also get to see how Jones completes the album Give the People What They Want together with her orchestra, The Dap-Kings, and how their music impacts people in an immensely positive way."
"The camera follows Jones to the hospital, to her home, and to the studio. This charismatic woman possesses a great sense of humor and instantly wins over the heart of every person she meets. Jones, who has also performed in Finland, is sheer female energy, all the way from her bald head to her golden toe nails."
"Director Barbara Kopple has won two Academy Awards for her documentaries Harlan County, USA (1976) and American Dream (1990). She has also previously filmed singers in her documentary Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing (2006)." Elisa Helenius / Translation: Sanna Parikka
AA: "Soul Survivor" was the Village Voice headline on Sharon Jones, the great soul & funk singer who tours and records with her band Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings. She beat a vicious cancer and has since released records and made a world tour to celebrate her survival. She is a force of life, full of anima vitae.
Barbara Kopple the master documentarist has made a documentary portrait of this Cantarice chauve - bald singer: Sharon Jones refused to wear a wig having lost her hair in the context of chemotherapy. The dramatic arc is based on the fall and rise in the battle against cancer (which, however, will never be fully overcome).
The film is constructed as a journey to important locations in Sharon Jones's life: the hospital, the Daptone Studio, the "home away from home" of her best friend, the landscape of her childhood, tv shows such as Ellen (DeGeneres), and the world tour. We meet the members of the Dap-Kings band, "the Dapettes" singers, the manager, and the studio professionals. It's like a big family. Their specialty is a reliance on traditional methods of recording and publishing.
The songs and the performances have high intensity, and there is also footage from music videos, even an animated one for "Retreat". The anthology piece of the film is Sharon Jones singing gospel at a church with such power that she is completely exhausted afterwards.
The passionate performances and the narrative about a fight between life and death are balanced by Barbara Kopple with a relaxed approach in the general flow of the movie.
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