RESPECT. Starring: Jennifer Hudson, Forest Whitaker, and Skye Dakota Turner. Directed by Liesl Tommy. Rated M (Mature themes and coarse language).145 min.
This American-Canadian, biographical musical drama is based on a screenplay written by Tracey Scott Wilson and records the life of musical ‘Soul’ legend, Aretha Franklin. The principal role is taken by Jennifer Hudson, an American singer and actress, who won an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award, for the film Dreamgirls in 2006, as best supporting actress in a motion picture. It is the debut feature film for South-African, American Director, Liesl Tommy.
The film comes less than three years after the film, Amazing Grace, which was released in 2019 as a documentary film of Franklin making her 1972 album, ‘Amazing Grace’ – one of the highest selling music albums of her time. Franklin recorded the album live in 1972 in Los Angeles, and the film was not released until 2019, because of legal disputes. The 2019 film is a record of a remarkable singer who was at the top of her form as an international star, and returning to Gospel music. Franklin’s live performance intimately projects the enormous range and power of Black-Religious music, and communicates its energy, joy, and spontaneity. In it, Franklin barely speaks a word, but the comparison between the two movies tells us that this film clearly captures the strength of Gospel music.
The comparison is instructive in other ways. This movie is different to the 2019 movie. It is biographical in intent, and canvasses the experiences in Franklin’s actual life. Hudson was chosen to take the starring role by Aretha Franklin herself before she died in 2018. To Aretha, “if you want respect, you have to be heard”. It was important to Aretha, that she be treated with dignity and respect, “and be heard” – giving the title to this film, which also refers to Otis Redding’s single of the same name, that Aretha turned into a stirring anthem for a social-political movement.
Franklin’s exceptional voice was recognised for what it was by her father (Whitaker), who raised her to become a musical superstar, and the Queen of Soul. This film is the story of that singer in biopic form. Jennifer Hudson sings and acts. Movie-goers can see musical reality in the 2019 film of Franklin’s performance in the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, with the Southern California Community Choir seated and singing behind her. That scene features in this film. It looks a little different, but Hudson captures what Franklin’s songs emotionally and soulfully are meant to communicate.
This film embeds Aretha’s songs into her life. It dramatically tracks the life of Aretha from a child (Sky Dakota Turner) to an adult (Jennifer Hudson). The film portrays her as a civil right activist, and ‘Respect’ is one of her famous songs that features in this movie. The movie covers the traumatic effect of life-events for Aretha, including sexual abuse of her as a young child and tracks her troubled life as a married woman, covering two marriages, one of which involved domestic violence. The movie as a whole tells the story of Aretha’s personal fight for self-realisation, and arrestingly paints the trauma-filled background of her life. Hudson, the actress, incorporates Aretha’s songs into a well-rounded, dramatic portrayal of Franklin’s life, and the film coheres well.
The 2019 film of Aretha Franklin records some of her greatest songs. In it, Franklin sings ‘Amazing Grace’ in a totally authentic setting, while this film stages the song more dramatically. This film strongly picks up dramatic pace as Hudson fights in her adult life to forge Aretha’s personal and professional identity, and the final credits show us an ageing Franklin holding her audience enthralled by the power and vibrancy of her singing which was remarkably still powerful. It is a tribute to Hudson that she makes ‘Amazing Grace’ her own.
Universal Pictures International
Released 19 August 2021