“If music be the food of love, bray on“.
So says nobody whatsoever in this absolute gem of a documentary, but they should. In a film featuring laughter and tears in equal measure, the former is most joyously represented when our soul-singing chanteuse serenades a trio of, initially at least, bleating goats. In a way almost unique to that species, they manage to look intrigued, entranced even, and also mildly sinister all at once. But one of many captivating scenes in a raucous but touching 90 minutes.
The movie principally concerns the period stretching 2012 to 2014; a period book-ended by the production of the album Give The People What They Want by Sharon Jones with her band the Dap-Kings and its eventual release two years later. Not actually a notably long gap in the habitually behind schedule record industry but for Sharon the time was fractured by a diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer. It would take a hard heart not to be moved by the struggles that this most insidious of diseases can bring; the more so since success came to Ms Jones, born 1956, relatively late in life.
Indeed that struggle to make it full stop forms a vivid and at times entirely dispiriting back drop. Growing up in Augusta where the local store keeper taught his parrot to squawk, “Nigger stealing!“, if a black child walked in is one thing; for an America that has tried to free itself from those wretched shackles yet had a Sony Records boss say the singer was, “Too black [to make it]”, is a sullen commentary on the supposedly liberal arts.
However, made it the band has, eventually. And my God can she sing. High-octane soul in a James Brown style it makes the ravages of the tumours all the more difficult to take as the dancing shoes are hung up in favour of long days of daytime tv. Daytime television featuring a certain Ellen DeGeneres who makes an appearance towards the end.
What you get is an overarching narrative about society, music, business, medicine even, and right at the centre is the force of nature that is Sharon Jones. Possessed of one of the purest, most powerful voices around, the fight to regain position, get back on stage, back to where she feels most alive after years of grafting is truly moving.
Without giving too much away, towards the end of the film is one of the most exhilarating, genuinely spine-tingling scenes I’ve ever come across in a musical documentary. Tearful too, of course, but that is testament to what a powerful, wounded presence our doyenne is throughout. And frankly just a prodigiously talented, hilarious and utterly charming one too.
Wonderfully low-key and discrete film-making vies at times with entirely indiscreet and vivacious protagonists. Even whilst the darkest moments stalk and circle – and there are some deeply gloomy scenes – there’s a real zest at the centre of the storm. That juxtaposition creates the strong and compelling story as light and shade compete with each other. Impossible not to get swept up in.
Great film, great story and utterly excellent music. Worth your dollar in every way and deeply, deeply inspiring.
