JUDY(2019) a review
So.... as a comeback Renee Zellweger decided that it was time to come back ...... as a full fledged female impersonator?
So.... as a comeback Renee Zellweger decided that it was time to come back ...... as a full fledged female impersonator?
Tabloid and general public have indeed applauded her performance as Judy Garland in "Judy"...
Purists less so...
For starters; Louis B. Mayer tells a young Judy it`s her VOICE that people will hear and never to be forgotten...
A voice we NEVER hear in this film...
When Renee opens her mouth and her own singing voice is coming out.... It`s like an atomic bomb crash indeed....
Those songs.... those arrangements - they all scream for Judy... and it IS HER FILM DAMN IT!!!!
Imagine seeing Edith Piaf(Marion Cotillard) and Freddie Mercury(Rami Malek) in their celebrated roles and doing their own singing.......
Fond memories goes to Judy Davis and Tammy Blanchard and their portrayels of Judy in the 2001 mini series Life With Judy Garland - Me and My Shadows.... They both won Emmy`s and deservedly so....
This film is based on the play End of the Rainbow. A play that embraces myth.
And this film is all myth!
It is sad
I`m emotinally drained after this experience and my thoughts may not be sober.....
With such a documented life she should really have been given the right to tell HER story....
The human race has a morbid fascination for human frailty and tragedies... It sells books... It sells movies....
Females have been less fortunate than their male counterparts... If a female rises to greatness, it is ALWAYS important to show her fall... And if she didn`t have a great fall - hey - let`s make it!!
A woman has to suffer... SHE MUST PAY!!!
Norwegian ice-skater Sonja Henie suffered from a similar treatment last year that died at the box office....
So what I am talking about here is a well known formula for bio pictures... You must let the public go through catarsis and feel good about themselves afterwards..
The general idea is that as a spectator you are given the privelige of feeling good about yourself, while the protagonist up on the screen has to be a martyr and we all can say "he/she had it coming and deservedly so....."
There is a telephone scene with Judy and Lorna - that evokes strong resemblence to Judy`s telephone call with Gregory Phillips in her last movie - the 1963 I Could Go On Singing....
Your guess is as good as mine....
Louis B. Mayer was a complex presence in her life... But she did care for him and they both spoke well of each other in later years, though of course it was a relationship on many levels and experiences...
Here he is presented like Evil indeed and that`s the myth thing for you again....
Reading Gerold Frank`s Judy(1975) and John Fricke`s World`s Greatest Entertainer(1992)...
Seeing her TV-specials and shows.... and not forgetting her films and Capitol recordings(Judy live at Carnegie Hall 1961 - the ultimate recording of mature Garland)...
THAT`S when you experience the real and true JUDY GARLAND 1922-1969...
I would like to mention three things from this movie....
Judy`s encounter with the gay couple is magical indeed....
Mickey Deans.... In this film you really come to understand why she fell for him.... in this stage in her life... he was a charmer.., and for once we see that..... He is wonderfully played by Finn Wittrock.
The audience sings Over The Rainbow to Judy---- Many a tabloid reporter has stated it never happened.... but it did..... And can be seen on youtube - "Judy and Liza Live at the Palladium" 1964.
As for production values, this film is top notch.... Wanna have a great cry(the whole theatre did when the lights went on) - this is for you....
If you want a true story on Judy and your love for her craft - this is pure shit.... Look up the work mentioned above instead....
If Happy Little Bluebirds Fly... Beyond the Rainbow.... Why oh Why.... Can`t I????
