It feels like Billie Holiday is having a moment. Andra Day just won a Golden Globe for playing the famed singer in The United States Vs. Billie Holiday, and the 1972 film The Lady Sings The Blues starring Diana Ross as Holiday finally just received a Blu-Ray release after many years of clamoring from fans. While the recognition of the life and talent of Holiday is long overdue, it feels a little bittersweet considering Holiday only got a modicum of the success she deserved during her tragically short lifetime. These fictionalized versions are great to have out in the world, but there is yet another important piece to the Holiday story that has recently been released. The new documentary Billie from director James Erskine intends to give you a glimpse into the troubled life of the singer as revealed through recordings made with some of the people who knew her best. The resulting film is one that has loads of fascinating conversations that are compiled in a manner that does not do the information justice in the strongest manner.
The biggest issue with Billie is in the initial conceit for how these tapes came to be in existence in the first place. In the late 1970s, writer Linda Lipnack Kuehl conducted interviews with many of those who knew Holiday best including band members, family members, pimps and more. These testimonies offer fascinating contradictions depending on who is being interviewed; a pimp naturally has some messed up views on Holiday’s worth in the world, while her band leader and manager offer up some notable discrepancies when it comes to why certain parties split ways. You can feel Kuehl trying to be as delicate and nuanced as possible in the course of trying to get to the heart of Holiday’s story – the film even notes how she felt sensitive to the fact that she was a white jewish woman telling a black woman’s story. This story never got told, though. The opening moments of the film reveals that Kuehl was found dead in 1979, twenty years after the death of Holiday, in what was ruled an apparent suicide. The movie offers up the possibility that this was a murder, and devotes a chunk of time to exploring this to unsatisfactory ends. Her story is compelling, but it is not told well enough and it ends up distracting from the life of this amazing talent.
As amazing as it is to have these audio recordings surface after all of these years, the movie feels like it is missing something by not having Holiday herself contribute to her story. Of course, Holiday had died long before this project had ever started, but something does not feel right about the fact that mostly men were responsible for giving the details of her life. The conversations skew heavily towards her sexuality and her drug use. We have to remember that these were men from the 70s, so most of them are missing any semblance of tact. There is nothing wrong with addressing these aspects of Holiday’s life, but the movie seems weighted down by these stories with little gas left in the tank to delve into the music that made people fall in love with her. Even the content dealing with the racism she faced in her career could have been expanded upon more. An anecdote about how Holiday would stash away a hamburger in her bag in case the next town would not serve “colored people” is heartbreaking but fascinating. Billie is an interesting documentary, but it is not the best version of itself. The information included here is worth checking out, but you will need to find some supplemental pieces to help you get a more well-rounded view of this legendary vocalist.
Video Quality
Billie comes to DVD with a decent if not unspectacular 480p transfer that suits the movie well enough. This project is primarily composed of archival photos backed by the audio recordings, which provides different levels of visual quality. There are a couple of more recent on-camera interviews that give the film a noticeably fresher appearance. Colors are a bit flat and black levels are subject to crush and compression artifacting. The image is a bit soft throughout with noticeable haziness around the information on screen. This film is visually not a knockout, but it gets the information across that it needs to in a serviceable way considering the quality of the source elements.
Audio Quality
The DVD comes with both a Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 track that does everything it needs to do well. Dialogue is pretty consistently clear throughout with only occasional moments where sounds from the recordings muddle the clarity of the subject’s words. These instances are pretty consistently provided with subtitles to help supplement the audio experience. Surround speakers add a bit of texture to the proceedings, mostly in the form of musical cues. This track appears to be free from any damage or other issues that would lessen your enjoyment. This presentation is about as good as the source material will allow.
Special Features
- Trailers: The two-minute trailer for Billie is included here. Also included are trailers for Creem: America’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Magazine, Harry Chapin: When In Doubt Do Something, Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President and Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice.
Final Thoughts
Billie is a documentary that is filled with a treasure trove of unheard audio excerpts that prove to be an invaluable listen. The documentary is not quite as vital as the tapes themselves, as it occasionally gets a bit too unfocused. The story of Billie Holiday is one well worth exploring, and this collection of vintage interviews will leave you feeling that you know more facets of Holiday than you ever have before. Kino Lorber and Greenwich Entertainment have provided a serviceable DVD with an okay A/V presentation and no substantial extras to speak of.
Billie is currently available to purchase on DVD and Digital.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the DVD.
Disclaimer: Kino Lorber and Greenwich Entertainment have supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
