Review: Heavenly Aretha Franklin documentary 'Amazing Grace' proves worth the wait
“Amazing Grace” - ★ ★ ★ ½
After many dangers, toils and snares, the long-lost Aretha Franklin concert film “Amazing Grace” has finally seen the light, and good Lord is it good.
Filmed over two sessions in 1972 at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in the Watts section of Los Angeles, it captures Franklin at the apex of her power. The colossal accompanying double LP, which didn't suffer the same fate as the footage, is justly revered and remains the best-selling gospel record of all time. But to see it is to believe. This is gospel ecstasy.
For a long time, “Amazing Grace” was one of the great unseen white whales of cinema. The film — shot with 16 mm cameras by a then up-and-coming director named Sydney Pollack — sat for decades in studio vaults because Pollack forgot to slate his footage, leaving the sound and pictures unsynchronized.
After Pollack died in 2008, Alan Elliott took over the film, had it synced, and had David Arnold edit it. But efforts to release the documentary were stymied by Franklin who sued the filmmakers to prevent festival screenings in 2015 and 2016. It finally premiered three months after Franklin's death last year, with her estate's blessing. It's now arriving in theaters, 47 years later.
Great concert films are often elevated by concept or occasion. But “Amazing Grace” is lifted not by the production, which is a little shambling; or the staging, which is an afterthought. No, “Amazing Grace” is sent heavenward almost entirely by Franklin's soul-shattering voice and the frenzy worked up by the Southern California Community Choir, Rev. James Cleveland (who presided over the performance), the limber choir director Rev. Alexander Hamilton, and a small (largely unseen) rhythm section of top-flight R&B players.
Singing from the pulpit, Franklin's supreme virtuosity takes on biblical proportions. So glorious is she, then 29 and already in such staggering command of her instrument, that “Amazing Grace” — if you weren't dancing and hollering — would be hard to watch standing. Aretha will knock you flat.
Part of the fun is watching not just those in the thrall of Franklin (Mick Jagger can be seen in the back of the church) but witnessing the awe Franklin evokes.
The concerts were a return to gospel roots for Franklin after a string of hits for Atlantic Records. Secular numbers (“You've Got a Friend”) are mixed in with gospel staples including an exhilarating “Mary Don't You Weep” and a majestic, 10-minutes-long “Amazing Grace.” Blues and gospel merge euphorically.
It's easy to wonder while watching “Amazing Grace” what Franklin ever objected to. Did she simply resent that the filmmakers bungled its making?
Franklin says virtually nothing throughout, appearing preternaturally calm in between songs. Is that out of respect for the setting? Was she not at ease during the film's making, at least when the music wasn't playing? Or is it more like what John Updike said about Ted Williams not doffing his cap to fans after a home run? Just as gods do not answer letters, queens don't curtsy.
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Directed by: Alan Elliott, Sydney Pollack
Other: A Neon release. Rated G. 87 minutes