Truly Dreadful Film

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Why wait till the end of the movie to finally suggest that the reason why Nina Simone was unhappy was because she was bipolar, then maybe we can follow through the entire movie knowing that we're just looking at a crazy woman! I'm confused is she the one to blame for the beatings she took from her husband, for living in a time of racism where it was not even permitted to discuss trauma, for being turned down to go to a school because she was African-American; only to be acknowledged after her death,for her political involvement with civil rights movement, which has always been considered taboo, for being poor, for living in fear of a lynching, for not being permitted to be a mother - just for living in fear! Hey! While you're at it, you can just write her out of the movie all together and just say this is how you become bipolar! This is what happens to women when they are given too much responsibility! We love that story! She can't take care of herself. As long as the men took care of the bills, she couldn't possibly understand the bills. Even in her final moments, she is not heard. It all falls on deaf ears Nina! They're not listening! They can't hear you! They gave you the pills so you could just keep playing! It's three strikes and you're out - African-American, woman, mental illness! I can't imagine a place anywhere and in anytime that a woman like this was not spotted on the street and cared for? Was that the state of mind during the civil rights movement? Can you answer me that question? You are telling me not one person, not a friend,family, or fan came to take care of her? I mean manic-depression has been around quite a long time! Centuries! There has always been people who have it and have been around to treat it. It didn't just happen in the last ten years! I'm sick of the big finale of bipolarism/mental illness! Why not do what has always been done when a writer/director doesn't know how to end a story - just staple a deuce ex machine to it and call it a day! Perfect rags to riches story, hey? Why even mention a mental illness? So those of us who suffer can say, well that's why we'll never be an important part of society! Or those of us who don't suffer as much can button it with, oh thank heavens she got help! Maybe a better ending might be triumphant? The husband is put in jail, finally justice served! By the way, since we are airing out the dirty laundry, what about the husband? What was his mental illness diagnosis? That he was a man and times were different? He gets a pass? The daughter? Anyone with the correct information knows that it runs in the family. How about tieing things up with a prompting of intolerance? Or don't women, African-American and those suffering with mental illness deserve some tolerance? And don't think I didn't miss that you are quick to label an abused woman as bipolar, which is why I asked the question at the beginning. Isn't this what the movie was about? Creating more intolerance! That is why they smacked the mental illness label onto Nina and the ending of the movie: so we could all feel like we were in the same company with the intolerant, nice and cosy. It is a mirror of our intolerance. It's just an easier explanation than and less taboo to just say she lost her fame because of bipolarism and easier to diagnose as she is a woman. Whatever, bravo to the director for an ignorant message! I loved seeing the original footage, but the the director should be cremated! Nina you're not alone. You were never alone. We women are all still dieing silently - African-American, or pathetically diagnosed with a mental illness - for all our tries.

Greetings again from the darkness. Classical pianist, extraordinary singer, highly sought after live performer, Civil Rights activist, and inspiration to so many … it's only fitting that Nina Simone is now the subject of an Oscar nominated documentary. Talented filmmaker Liz Garbus (also Oscar nominated for 1998's The Farm: Angola, USA) provides a biography that is both a deep-dig and somewhat gentle look at this fascinating and troubled woman.Born Eunice Waymon in North Carolina during the Jim Crow era, she was the church pianist at age 4, and later studied classical piano with the dream of becoming the first black female classical pianist to play Carnegie Hall. While attending Julliard, she worked at an Atlantic City bar where, in an effort to hide the gig from her parents, she created the stage name Nina Simone (after the popular French actress Simone Signoret). It was also at this bar where she was first forced to sing … a step that changed the course of her life.The film begins by showing her return to the stage at the1976 Montreaux Festival in Switzerland after a seven year self-imposed exile (most recently in Liberia). We then head back to her humble childhood and follow her progression as she blends her Bach-influenced piano style with an expressive vocal style in jazz, gospel, pop, R&B and soul … resulting in the nickname "High Priestess of Soul".What we see is a woman with remarkable talent and ferocious drive who just never is satisfied with society or her place in it … despite the positive impact she had as a musician and activist. Ms. Garbus uses some rare archival performance footage … such as her singing "I Loves You Porgy" while appearing on Hugh Hefner's "Playboy Penthouse TV show and "Mississippi Goddam" during the march with Martin Luther King. We also hear Nina telling her own story through previously unheard audio recordings, and we have access to diary entries and personal letters. These are combined with insightful interviews from her ex-husband and manager Andrew Stroud, collaborators like Al Shackman (her guitarist) and George Wein (founder of Newport Jazz Festival), and her daughter Lisa Simone Kelly.What we soon see is a combination of other-worldly talent and a woman filled with rage and depression, and who is isolated inside her own uneasiness. Her later diagnosis and medication for bi-polar syndrome allowed her to better function in those last years. Her lack of attentiveness to her kids is kind of glossed over, but we understand how it made sense for her kids to spend more time at the home of the Shabazz family (Malcolm X) than with their own parents.It's a shame that Ms. Simone could never appreciate her achievements, the impact she had in the Civil Rights movement and the inspiration her music brought to so many. Even playing Carnegie Hall was not enough for her as she wasn't on stage as the classical pianist of her dreams. Her biggest mainstream musical recognition stemmed from her song "My Baby Just Cares for Me" being used for a1987 Chanel No. 5 advertisement, but fortunately the rest of us can understand her place in history as a rare talent and societal influencer. She truly put a spell on us.

Nina Simone was an extraordinary artist, a singer with an amazing, androgynous voice, a pianist from the age of four, a master of many styles (yet each one made distinctively her own), and a performer who put an amazing amount of herself into every song she sang. But she was also a frequently unhappy woman, a sufferer from manic depression, and while she was involved in the struggle for black civil rights in the United States, she did not allow herself the indulgence of viewing the outcome of that fight with satisfaction. 'What Happened, Miss Simone?' tells the story of her life and career with songs, comments from friends, and extensive excerpts from interviews she gave. It's fascinating, but also overlong, and while many assert the Nina was a difficult woman, few actually describe the reality of living with her in detail, which is a bit frustrating: she was a private person when not on stage, and the frailties hinted at in her public performances are never completely explained. You finish this documentary wanting to know more; but also, perhaps, feeling you could have been told what you've just learnt in a little less time.

(Rating: ☆☆☆½ out of 4)This film is highly recommended.In brief: A documentary that expertly shows the rise and fall of a gifted performer.GRADE: B+A riveting documentary entitled What Happened, Miss Simone? by Liz Garbus shows the tragedy of a singer-songwriter through her journals, interviews, and rare archival footage.The film covers similar ground as we watch the downward spiral of yet another gifted performer. Talented at a young age and trained as a classical pianist, Nina Simone fought against poverty and prejudice to make her mark in the music industry. Like Ms. Winehouse, Miss Simone was a manic depressive performer on the road to fame and fortune. She too dealt with an abusive family member, her husband and manager Andrew Stroud, had numerous bouts with alcohol and violent mood swings amid her frequent mental disorders. At the peak of her career, her finances were a shamble as was her marriage and she became an advocate for the civil rights movement, although her methods became extremely volatile and radicalized in her later years. This documentary (never distributed in regional movie theaters and available now on Netflix) uses her concert performances and more archival footage from famous celebrities like Hugh Hefner, Dick Gregory, and Stokely Carmichael to narrate Miss Simone's turbulent life. But the most effective interview comes from her daughter Lisa Simone Kelly who narrates the film with a grace and understanding that is genuinely moving. She eloquently reflects back on her life memories about an unhappy home and a mentally ill mother incapable of loving her unconditionally. Ms. Garbus, the director, offers numerous songs from her repertoire that highlight the talented jazz vocalist, but too often the filmmaker sacrifices these vivid live performances and never plays out the entire concert piece which undercuts the essence of Miss Simone legend. (There is a segment with Miss Simone singing Janis Ian's Stars that is so visceral and raw in its brilliance.) There are also some gaps about certain times in her life that would have been more riveting if the filmmaker have been granted more access to the early archives of this singer. Nevertheless, the film tells a gripping story of a woman who found fame and fortune but lost her way to find real happiness.Ms. Garbus' tribute to one of the greatest jazz vocalists is worthy of your attention.Visit my blog at: www.dearmoviegoer.comANY COMMENTS: Please contact me at: jadepietro@rcn.com