Three months after her death and 46 years after she first recorded it, Aretha Franklin's live gospel concert is coming to the big screen.
“Amazing Grace,” filmed in January 1972 when the Queen of Soul was just 29 years old, follows Franklin over two nights giving a concert at the New Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles.
Belting out gospel songs like “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” “Climbing Higher Mountains” and an 11-minute version of “Amazing Grace,” Franklin brought churchgoers and guests (including Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger) to their feet.
But Franklin herself stands still, saying little in the 90-minute film.
Flowers and mementos are left at a growing memorial at Aretha Franklin's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California, August 16, 2018. /VCG Photo
Flowers and mementos are left at a growing memorial at Aretha Franklin's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California, August 16, 2018. /VCG Photo
“It's a church service. It's basically just our aunt standing there singing,” Sabrina Owens, Franklin's niece and executor of her estate, told Reuters Television.
“She doesn't have much conversation with anybody beyond some of the technical crews that are around her. At some point, she asked about a key and another point she asked for water, but she's just basically standing there singing, giving her all, doing what she does best,” said Owens, who is also a producer of the film.
The service was released as an album in 1972, becoming a best-seller for Franklin. But the film languished for years over problems with synchronizing the visuals and the audio. Advances in technology made it possible to fix that issue and producer Alan Elliott, who took over the project some 10 years ago, got agreement from Franklin's estate following the singer's death in August to finally release the film.
Singer Aretha Franklin performs "Amazing Grace" at the funeral of Luther Vandross, Riverside Church, New York City, July 8, 2005. /VCG Photo
Singer Aretha Franklin performs "Amazing Grace" at the funeral of Luther Vandross, Riverside Church, New York City, July 8, 2005. /VCG Photo
Owens said Elliott told her about the film some three years ago. “I had never even heard about it and he sent me the link, and I was like, Oh wow! This is really good.”
“Amazing Grace” got its world premiere in New York on Monday, winning warm reviews, and will get a limited release in the city and in Los Angeles in late November and early December, making it eligible for Hollywood's awards season.
Britain's Guardian newspaper said the film is “a spine-tingling sensation” while the Hollywood Reporter called it “somewhat shapeless as a movie...But it does contain moments of bliss.”
(Cover photo: Gladys Knight performs while an image of the late Aretha Franklin is projected on a screen during the 2018 American Music Awards at Microsoft Theater, Los Angeles, California, October 9, 2018. /VCG Photo)
Source(s): Reuters