20 Feet from Stardom

You can tell a good documentary by the fact that it manages to absorb you despite subject matter that you don’t give a damn about. And in my opinion, nothing can be less interesting on paper than a documentary about the importance and history of the America’s backup singers. The strange thing is, that even though I was blissfully unaware about this field, I know nothing more about it now (apart from the discovery of Lisa Fischer). I think everyone is well aware that black girls didn’t have an easy life back then, and it might also occur to you that being a good backup singer is difficult enough in itself and hard work full of self-denial. And there’s nothing more to it. Or, rather, there is. Lots of talking heads, slapping each other on the back, here and there telling a compelling story. And then there’s great work on the music side, but that is somehow what you’d expect from a music documentary. (01/31/2014)