«Respect»: a look back at the rise of the queen of soul«

Cinema Wednesdays - Mathieu Baume

Aretha Franklin, who died in 2018, made history beyond music. With her voice, she helped redefine the codes of her time, popularizing a new musical genre, the soul, He was also an important figure in the African-American civil rights movement, and was involved in many other struggles throughout his life.

The film Respect focuses on certain periods in the artist's life. The biopic essentially retraces part of her childhood in Detroit and her Gospel roots, her record label debut with Columbia and the difficult sales of her first albums, before she joined and enjoyed her first big commercial successes with Atlantics Records. From then on, her career took off internationally. The film ends with a more difficult period for the artist, before she returns to her earliest influences and releases a new album. Amazing Grace, the best-selling Gospel album in history.

And it's no coincidence that we've come full circle: the Church and spirituality is indeed a theme on which Respect tries to show the multiple influences in Aretha Franklin's life. Her tumultuous relationship with her father, a very imperfect pastor, the angelic memory of her mother with whom she had a fusional relationship, her support for Martin Luther King whose speeches were marked by God, or the demons she had to face (a literal notion that runs through the whole narrative), such as her violent first husband Ted White, her paranoia and the development of an unpleasant diva attitude at one point in her life following her incredible success, or her addiction to alcohol.

But the film is also truly a journey of self-discovery. Little by little, Aretha Franklin asserts herself in the face of a father who gave her little freedom and, for example, chose the songs for her albums during the Columbia period. She ends up confronting Ted White and leaving him, finds her own musical style and acquires a firm grip on her producer and musicians, even if it means becoming a tougher, almost unsympathetic person in the film.

This is the first feature-length film by South African director Liesl Tommy, who has joined a project that began several years ago. The film has a special aura when you consider that Aretha Franklin was involved in the project before her death. She was even the one who chose singer/actress Jennifer Hudson to play the role. And her performance is astounding: not only does she reinterpret all the songs in the film, but she also sang them on the set itself (and not in post-synchronization), demonstrating an impressive performance and mastery of her voice.

But the film suffers from a number of shortcomings. For example, a dramatic event seems to take place inside his childhood bedroom. This should be an important scene, since it's insisted upon throughout the film. But it subsequently has no influence, and its impact on Aretha Franklin's life is not dealt with. This trauma, for example, does not help us to understand some of the singer's actions. No link in the artist's psychological development is shown or suggested, which in the end just makes the film look superficial, and that's a shame. Another example: after her international success, we find the heroine completely alcoholic without any explanation being given, Aretha Franklin not being shown at any point in the film dependent on this substance, or sinking into it. We don't even know if this has anything to do with the singer's success. All we get is a character who has become unsympathetic and destroys everything the film had tried to build up to that point.

Nonetheless, this film is an opportunity to discover - perhaps for younger viewers in particular - or rediscover Aretha Franklin from a certain point of view. In particular, the film retraces the writing of some of the singer's now-cult songs, and contextualizing them in relation to the artist's personal life gives them an enriching new perspective. A vibrant tribute is also paid to the singer during the closing credits, with excerpts from her 2015 performance in front of President Barack Obama. As well as offering a gripping, solemn ending, this gives an additional, weighty reading when we think back to the film's theme of the struggle for African-American civil rights. 

Looking ahead, Respect is, in my opinion, an excellent way of getting to know Aretha Franklin and the different facets of her life, while at the same time offering an interesting point of view on this influential artist through its themes and narrative. A film that I encourage you to go and see in the cinema to make up your own mind about it.

Photo credits: © Universal Pictures International Switzerland