The creative process is always memorable when seen on the big screen. The first words gleaned on a chorus of a future hit, that key guitar riff, a melody taking shape gathered round a studio piano. Director Liesl Tommy gives the viewer two of those moments in Respect. The film opens in Detroit circa 1952 when 10-year-old Re (as she is called by family and close friends) is awakened by her father Reverend C.L. Franklin (Forest Whitaker) to sing for the guests at the regular Saturday night gatherings at the Franklin home. Among the local luminaries in the crowd is Dinah Washington (Mary J Blige) listening as young Re belts out My Baby like to Bebop before being ushered back to bed by her father. However, her home life is not always a celebrity roll call. She is raped at one of those Saturday night soirees, becomes pregnant at 12, and continues to be forced to sing on command by her father both at home and at his church; the largest in Detroit. Then there's her mother's untimely death that leads to a vow of silence and may have been the final early straw seeding her bipolar disorder or demons as those close to her called it that would haunt her for years to come.
Writer Tracey Scott Wilson's screenplay captures a narrow swatch of the singer's life over its 145 minutes run time. There are so many highlights and achievements from Franklin's remarkable life that are not displayed but instead either addressed postscript or as part of clips of the real Franklin herself alongside the end credits. The costume design team lead by Chris Ramos and set design under the watchful eye of Ina Mayhew worked hand in glove to recreate the styles and feel of the fifties all the way through to the Seventies. The set of Franklin's expansive New York apartment with plenty of room for casually placed grand piano makes one think what type of dollar would that place go for today.
Jennifer Hudson teed up by the impressive performance of Skye Dakota Turner as young Aretha shows the many sides of the singer on screen. She is shy and muted in her first trip to New York to record standards directed by John Hammond at Columbia then collaborative, intuitive ,and creative as she strolls into Fame studios in Muscle Shoals Alabama. She recognized the talent of the Swampers studio musicians right from the start bringing her first hit I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You) to life. Look for Marc Maron as producer Jerry Wexler as he negotiates his way through the midfield that is Franklin's inner circle keeping an eye out for Franklin herself who could go off like a grenade at any moment herself. Kimberly Scott is also notable as Mama Franklin. Aretha's grandmother the glue that kept the multi generational dysfunctional Franklin family on the rails despite building pressure both inside and out.
Respect is a biopic that focuses its lens on the early section of the singer's life. The initial crafting of the title cut at 3:00 A.M. alongside her sisters followed by the contributions of the swampers iconic guitar rift then a transition to a sold out Madison Square Garden concert is the sequence in the film that announced Franklin as a superstar. There are flashes of Franklin's activism traveling with and supporting Dr. Martin Luther King. Her fundraising for civil rights and her appreciation of the labeled radical Angela Davis. She seemed destined to struggle against domineering men. Her father Reverend Franklin followed by her first abusive egotistical controlling husband Ted White (Damon Wayans). She also struggled with mental health issues leading to a low point of severe alcoholism in early Seventies L.A. From which she emerged to take a risk and cut a gospel album Amazing Grace alongside a documentary that became the biggest selling album her career. One could have hoped for a highlight or two from her later years to feature more prominently but with so much material capturing everything was always destined to be a tall order.
*** Out of 4
Respect | Liesel Tommy | U.S.A. | 2021 | 145 Minutes.
Tags: Bio Pic, Detroit, Columbia Records, Atlantic Records, Muscle Shoals Alabama, Fame Studio, Madison Square Gardens, European Tour, Mental Illness, Rape, Abuse, Alcoholism, Baptist Church.
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