Feature
Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami
This electrifying journey through the public and private worlds of pop culture mega-icon Grace Jones contrasts musical sequences with intimate personal footage, all the while brimming with Jones’s bold aesthetic. A larger-than-life entertainer, an androgynous glam-pop diva, an unpredictable media presence – Grace Jones is all these things and more. Sophie Fiennes’s documentary goes beyond the traditional music biography, offering a portrait as stylish and unconventional as its subject. Taking us home with her to Jamaica, into the studio with long-time collaborators Sly & Robbie, and backstage at gigs around the world, the film reveals Jones as lover, daughter, mother, and businesswoman. But the stage is the fixed point to which the film returns, with eye-popping performances of “Slave to the Rhythm,” “Pull Up to the Bumper,” “Love is the Drug,” and more. Jones herself has said watching the film “will be like seeing me almost naked” and, indeed, Fiennes’s treatment is every bit as definition-defying as its subject, untamed by either age or life itself.
U.K. | Ireland, 2018, 115 minutes, Not Rated, In French and English with English subtitles, Directed by Sophie Fiennes
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“Fascinating portrait of 1980s disco goddess and pioneer performance artist from filmmaker Sophie Fiennes. Grade: A-.”
– James Verniere, BOSTON HERALD -
“Grace Jones is fittingly ensconced in a doc as fascinating, unpredictable and glamorously funky as her own persona.”
– David Noh, FILM JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL -
“The documentary is a feat of portraiture and a restoration of humanity. It's got the uncanny, the sublime, and, in many spots, a combination of both.”
– Wesley Morris, THE NEW YORK TIMES -
“Bloodlight And Bami has the stuff to be an instant cult classic.”
– Kevin Ritchie, NOW TORONTO -
“The live performances make for spectacular viewing.”
– Tara Brady, IRISH TIMES -
“It's a celebration of defiant, uncompromising originality, a commodity which is all too rare in music these days.”
– Wendy Ide, OBSERVER (UK)