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20 Feet from Stardom

(2013) *** Pg-13
91 min. Radius-TWC. Director: Morgan Neville. Cast: Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer, Claudia Lennear, Mabel John, Stephanie 'Stevvi' Alexander, Jo Lawry, Táta Vega, Lynn Mabry, Judith Hill, Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Mick Jagger, Bette Midler, Stevie Wonder, Sheryl Crow.

/content/films/4537/1.jpgWhat would popular music sound like without the backup singers? The answer is, of course, unthinkable, as Morgan Neville's documentary 20 Feet from Stardom reminds us. Neville does a good job of highlighting songs that are especially characterized by backup singers, like Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side," and introducing us to some of the "unsung" talent that made those hits possible.

Among the vocalists highlighted in the film are Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer, the Waters Family, Claudia Lennear, Mabel John, Stevvi Alexander, Jo Lawry, Táta Vega, Lynn Mabry, and Judith Hill. That nearly all of the talent is female gives the film a charge of feminist electricity, but the doc also serves as a parable of pursuing a big-time professional career in the arts. For every household name (and six testify in the film: Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Stevie Wonder, Bette Midler and Sheryl Crow), there's a breathtaking singer who never quite got the breaks or, perhaps, lacked the ambitious drive to pursue downstage stardom.

If this is a film about the art and struggle of the backup singer, the premise is undercut by the inclusion of Love, who struggled mightily to get out from under the iron fist of producer Phil Spector but nevertheless qualifies as a bona fide star (and an inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) who has mostly sung lead, headlines shows, and appears annually for a featured slot on The Late Show with David Letterman. Still, who wouldn't want to spend time with Love? She sings, reflects, and admits that she nearly gave up for good, cleaning houses until she heard herself on the radio while doing so and resolved to return to her calling.

Though Love throws off the balance of the movie, its heart is with performers, like Fischer and Clayton, who have mostly sung backup and who have been unable to sustain or launch solo careers. Neville celebrates their brushes with stardom—like Clayton's famously blistering solo on the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" and Fischer's only solo album, So Intense—but also allows the singers to ponder the limits of their commercial success.

Like any music documentary worth its salt, this one loads up on great performance footage, some of it from other music films: Lennear at The Concert for Bangladesh, Mabry backing the Talking Heads in Stop Making Sense, and Hill in This Is It, working with Michael Jackson just before his death. Revisiting these musical moments with attention to the backup singers proves ear-opening, as do the sometimes thoughtful, sometimes poignant interviews. Most of these women have come a long way, baby: former Ikette Lennear chuckles about having posed for Playboy—now she's a Spanish teacher. Something tells me she may have a sabbatical in her future: if a 20 Feet from Stardom tour isn't in the works, someone's sleeping on the job.

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Bluray

Aspect ratios: 1.78:1

Number of discs: 1

Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Street date: 1/14/2014

Distributor: Anchor Bay

Anchor Bay pays tribute to the now-Oscar-nominated 20 Feet from Stardom with its new special edition Blu-ray. The picture quality is more than serviceable, with the understanding that archival footage will vary significantly in resolution. Shadow detail is marginal in the newly shot interview and candid footage, but that's a quibble considering the generally very satisfying rendering of the image, which doesn't suffer significantly from compression artifacts. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix excels, which is good news for a music doc. Great care has been given to the sound design, and the music is presented with a potent fullness. Placement of sound is thoughtful and surprisingly immersive in the mix, which crisply renders the interviews and dynamically supports the songs.

Bonus features provide significant supplementary video, from cut footage to an excellent Q&A. Twelve "Deleted Scenes" (29:00, HD) include extended sequences and more studio session footage.

"The Buddy System" (8:52, HD) amounts to another deleted section of the film, on the topic of the preference for musicians lifting each other up rather than thinking in competitive terms.

"Times Talks Q & A" (29:24, HD) excerpts a New York Times event in which journalist Jon Pareles moderates a conversation with Darlene Love, Lisa Fischer, Merry Clayton, and director Morgan Neville. The women speak extensively about their careers, with Neville adding some comments about how the film came together.

Now's the time to check out this most popular of 2013 docs, so you'll be able to sound authoritative when discussing the Oscars.

 

Review gear:
Panasonic Viera TC-P55VT30 55" Plasma 1080p 3D HDTV
Oppo BDP-93 Universal Network 3D Blu-ray Disc Player
Denon AVR2112CI Integrated Network A/V Surround Receiver
Pioneer SP-BS41-LR Bookshelf Speaker (2)
Pioneer SP-C21 Center Speaker
Pioneer SW-8 Subwoofer

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