Amazing Grace (2018 film)
| Amazing Grace | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Sydney Pollack |
| Produced by | Joe Boyd Alan Elliott Rob Johnson Spike Lee Sabrina V. Owens Angie Seegers Tirrell D. Whittley Joseph Woolf |
| Starring | Aretha Franklin |
| Edited by | Jeff Buchanan |
Production company | Al's Records & Tapes Production |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 87 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $5.19 million[1][2] |
Amazing Grace is a 2018 concert film directed by Sydney Pollack and later realized by producer Alan Elliott. The film features Aretha Franklin recording her 1972 live album of the same name. It co-stars: James Cleveland, C. L. Franklin, Bernard Purdie, Chuck Rainey, Clara Ward, with cameos by Mick Jagger, Sydney Pollack, and Charlie Watts. The film was produced by Joe Boyd, Franklin, Elliott, Rob Johnson, Spike Lee, Sabrina V. Owens, Angie Seegers, Tirrell D. Whittley, and Joseph Woolf under the banner of Al's Records And Tapes, in association with Time, 40 Acres and a Mule, Rampant, and Sundial Pictures.
Amazing Grace film was not released on schedule in 1972 due to difficulties syncing the audio tracks with the visual print and was relegated to a vault at Warner Bros. until 2007 when producer Alan Elliott purchased the raw footage and attempted to sync it. The pared-down footage, now 87 minutes in length, was planned for a 2011 release. Franklin sued Elliott for appropriating her likeness without permission, however, and the release date passed. Elliott made another attempt to premiere the film in 2015 at the Telluride Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, and the Chicago International Film Festival, but Franklin sued him again for unpublished reasons. After Franklin's death in 2018, her family made an arrangement to release the film, which premiered at the Doc NYC in 2018, before being released worldwide on April 5, 2019. The film has met with critical acclaim.
Synopsis
American singer-songwriter Aretha Franklin records her gospel album Amazing Grace live at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles in 1972. She is accompanied by the Southern California Community Choir, directed by Alexander Hamilton, seated behind her as Franklin sings from the church's lectern to a mostly African-American audience. James Cleveland appears as a featured singer and a piano accompanist. Franklin is also accompanied by Bernard Purdie on drums and Chuck Rainey on bass guitar.[5] On the second night Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts were in the audience. In L.A. finishing their album Exile on Main St., critic Jordan Hoffman believes "the gospel inflections of songs such as 'Shine a Light' and 'Let It Loose' were inspired by this visit.[5]
Cast
Credits adapted from Rotten Tomatoes.[6]
- Aretha Franklin
- James Cleveland
- C. L. Franklin
- Bernard Purdie
- Chuck Rainey
- Clara Ward
- Mick Jagger
- Sydney Pollack
- Charlie Watts
- Alexander Hamilton
Production
In 1972, Joe Boyd, the Music Services director at Warner Bros., originally proposed that film director James Signorelli to direct the film.[7] At a later date, Warner CEO Ted Ashley approached Sydney Pollack to direct the film. Pollack accepted the assignment when he heard Franklin's name.[7]
The Principal photography took place over a period of two nights at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, while Franklin recorded her Amazing Grace album live in 1972.[8] The album went on to become the highest-selling gospel music album of all time.[9][10] Pollack shot 20 hours of raw footage using 16 mm cameras.[9][11]
The post-production and supervision of the film were completed by Final Cut USA, Inc.[12][13] Since Pollack had not used clapperboards, it turned out to be impossible to sync the audio with the video in post-production.[9][14] The project was halted, and the raw footage placed in a vault at Warner Bros.; it went unseen through the 1990s.[15]
Release
Amazing Grace film was initially scheduled for a 1972 release together with Warner Bros.'s Super Fly.[16][17] In 2007, producer Alan Elliott purchased the raw footage.[14][17] Subsequently, sound editor/mixer Serge Perron successfully synchronized the sound with all the film footage.[18][19][20] Once all the sound and footage were synchronized, Jeff Buchanan edited the film.[20] Now pared down to 87 minutes, the film was scheduled for a 2011 release. However, Franklin sued Elliott for appropriating her likeness without permission, and the release was postponed.[17]
After Franklin's original release contract was discovered at the Warner Bros. offices, Elliott decided to release the film at the Telluride Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, and the Chicago International Film Festival in 2015.[21][22] Franklin sued him again, this time for unpublished reasons, and was granted an emergency injunction against the film screening, because she had not given permission to screen the footage.[23][24] After Franklin's death in 2018, her family made an arrangement to release the film.[25] It premiered at the Doc NYC on November 12, 2018,[26][27] was released worldwide on April 5, 2019,[28] and had its UK premiere on May 10, 2019.[29]
Home media
Amazing Grace was released in the United States on digital download and DVD on August 6, 2019, by Universal Studios.[30][31] In the UK, StudioCanal UK will release the film on DVD, digital and Blu-ray on September 2, 2019.[32]
Reception
Box office
Amazing Grace grossed $4,450,454 in the United States and Canada, and $739,664 in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $5,190,118.[33] On its domestic opening weekend the film grossed $57,353, averaging $19,118 per location.[34][35] The film earned $111,389 during its awards' qualifying run in December.[36] Upon its general release on April 5, the film made $88,098 in its opening weekend across 8 screens finishing 30th at the box office. In its second weekend it made $349,082, a 296% increase and $603,302 in its third and highest, the film was added to 132 theatres over the previous week for a total of 190.[37] In the United Kingdom it was released on May 10, 2019, by StudioCanal and grossed £166,593 on its opening weekend in 69 cinemas,[38] and grossed a total of £586,110 ($740,412) over a four-week period.[38]
Critical response
On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 99% based on 117 reviews, and an average rating of 8.73/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Brilliantly capturing a remarkable performer near the peak of her prodigious power, Amazing Grace is a thrilling must-watch documentary for Aretha Franklin fans."[6] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 94 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "Universal acclaim".[39]
Odie Henderson of RogerEbert.com enthused, "Whether you're religious or not, you owe it to yourself to see this movie if the chance arises. You'll see how much love and feeling went into the construction of the resulting album."[40] Variety's Owen Gleiberman noted, "The movie reveals how the fundamental distinction between "rock 'n' roll" and "rhythm and blues" was not only racist at its core, but a way for the consumer culture to slice the God out of music that was invented as a way to talk to God."[41] Jordan Hoffman of The Guardian wrote, "The film is almost wall-to-wall music, with Franklin barely acknowledging the audience between songs."[5] The Los Angeles Times' Justin Chang wrote, "Aretha Franklin didn't transcend the gospel or gospel music; as first her album and now this marvelous documentary remind us, she did more than most to fulfill its potential for truth and beauty, devotion and art."[11]
Hoffman criticized the film for its failure to credit editor Jeff Buchanan as possibly "the true author of the piece".[5] Producer Chiemi Karasawa claimed her work on the film was not compensated and filed an arbitration case against Alan Elliott upon its release.[13] Armond White of National Review criticized the film's politics, writing: "Is playing into the approval of white people the only way that bourgeois black people can think to confirm their significance? To reduce Franklin's art to the propaganda of 'empowerment' and activism disrespects the daily significance of the civil-rights movement and its basis in the sanctified church."[42]
Accolades
| Year | Award | Category | Result | Ref(s). |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Christian Science Monitor | Top Ten Best Films of 2018 | 3rd Place | [43] |
| 2019 | AARP Movie Awards | Best Documentary | Nominated | [44] |
| Black Reel Awards | Outstanding Documentary | Nominated | [45] | |
| National Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Non-Fiction Film | Nominated | [46] | |
| NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Documentary | Won | [47] |
References
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