To tell her story, director Bruce David Klein has assembled a treasure trove of archival material culled from film, television, newsreels, and more, interweaving it with numerous original interviews into several chapters. I divided it. These primarily focus on Minnelli's relationships with the various men, women, friends, and lovers who helped her find her way after Garland's death in 1969 at the still shocking age of 47. I'm guessing. Liza was 23 years old when her mother died. Garland's troubled past and health issues may have brought her death some solace, as Minnelli's longtime friend Mia Farrow says on camera. “So, what's next?” singer Michael Feinstein asks before answering that question.
What follows is a series of alternately moving and mind-blowing songs. success! Sequins! — and obviously incomplete. This is not surprising given the winking title. Like Faye, the recent documentary about the life and times of Faye Dunaway, A Truly Horrifying, Absolutely True Story is a highly entertaining, cozy and intimate film that feels like it was made by a fan. is. That's not necessarily a problem. Love is a great starting point for any film. However, her story is better known than most, as Minnelli was a public figure throughout her life and was just a toddler when she held her mother's hand in the 1949 film A Good Old Summertime. Sometimes it was much more dire than what is proposed here.
It's easy to see why this documentary glosses over some of the most difficult times in Minnelli's life. After the introduction of the setting, it begins with the death of the mother, as if trying to put her in the rearview mirror. The problem, of course, was that Garland remained a powerful force in his daughter's life. Klein addresses this issue to some extent by examining how Minnelli, with the help of entertainer and author Kay Thompson and others, developed a voice and performance style distinct from her mother's. Still, it's hard to understand how Minnelli survived childhood. Her heaviest burden, as Gerald Clarke writes in his sympathetic biography of Garland, Get Happy, was “to be on a permanent watch over death.”
For true Minnelli believers, such nonsense may not matter. The clips are great, as are some of the interviews, especially with her, Feinstein, and Ben Vereen. After all, it's great to spend time with Minnelli and revisit successes like Bob's Cabaret (1972) and her TV special Liza With a 'Z', released the same year. , that's very wonderful. I have to say, I'm surprised that Martin Scorsese's unpopular musical New York, New York (1977) hasn't received more attention. It was a messy piece, they had an affair and it failed, so maybe that's why it got cut short here. But really, who cares? Anything that makes you want to revisit “Cabaret” or “New York, New York,” which is exactly what I did, dear reader, deserves to be loved.
Liza: A truly amazing, absolutely true story
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 44 minutes. At the theater.
