SoCav
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- Jul 25, 2005
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That's The Way It Is is fantastic, one of my favourite music documentaries/concert films. That is, the 2001 cut which does not include the talking heads!Yes!!! Absolutely fantastic!! With a name like that you'ed think I'd remember. That footage with his band and how their chemistry built, with the drummer watching his every move and Elvis' relationship with his backing singers, and him pranking one them and making her jump lol. Saw what I felt were a lot of similarities between Elvis and MJ, both very warm, humble and personable people. Elvis was so bloody funny and loved his fans also. That moment when he came into the audience and kissed all the ladies. So many wonderful moments like what seemed like an after show party during the credits at the end with Sammy Davis. I'm gonna buy this on bluray if I see it. It was excellent.
I think these two points touch upon a really interesting aspect:
Absolutely brilliant and it didn't in any way pander to none-fans or potential fans. I mean it's Elvis, you'll like it or you won't, and even if you won't you'll still respect it for what it is, it's authentic and real and raw. And that's where I think the whole Michael Jackson thing fails at times. For some reason with Michael Jackson there's a sort of desperation to try to make him appeal to the entire world and their dog and by doing so it sometimes appeals less because it loses that authenticity.
I agree with you aazzaabb that the strength of That's The Way It Is is that you simply get to see Elvis and his band rehearsing and then performing. There are no talking heads, there's no narrator.Yes I think so. His documentaries contain very little new information and seem to just want to reiterate how great MJ is. That's great and all, but I actually want to hear how the album was created, I don't need to hear how great MJ was over and over again.
MJ's Estate/Spike Lee do not seem to have the confidence in the material to let it speak for itself. They constantly seem to be searching for external validation, be it by focusing heavily on modern artists as talking heads to reiterate how great MJ is in a documentary, or hiring modern producers to get him a #1 hit at all costs (even if the cost is remixing his own music). As you say, authenticity is lost this way. And I also think it is counterproductive. I think simply letting the work speak for itself is much more powerful for fans and non-fans alike. One of the fundamental rules of good storytelling is that it is better to show rather than tell.
Of course, the OTW documentary is not directly comparable with That's The Way It Is. And there is nothing wrong with talking heads per se. However, why not focus on having MJ's collaborators describe the work they did with Michael, and really zoom in on the work? Instead of having tons of people tell the viewers that the album is great, just show what it is all about, all the hard work and creativity that went into it, so that the viewers themselves can come to the conclusion that it is great.
This Is It is the only posthumous release that largely took this approach. Bad 25 did as well at times (the unreleased songs, Wembley, some parts of the documentary). There are even some moments in the OTW docu where this approach is taken - the live footage, the parts where Michael talks, the very brief snippets of demo's/outtakes (like the She's Out Of My Life ending). But these moments are few and far between, and most of the time get quickly interrupted by another talking head saying something unrelated to the making of the album....