dakjets
A year after the tragic death of George Michael, we get this film from the star a fine documentary. George Michael worked with this documentary before he died, and has been finished completely after his death.
As a fan of George Michael, I found this film first and foremost interesting as it gives an insight into the music, albums and concerts. George Michael had great musical ambitions, which he achieved. Whether it was commercial with the Faith album, or the artistic and more demanding List Without Prejudice album. However, I missed the mention of the Patience album.
The film has many music collegues that come with input and comments about George Michael and his music. But we also hear about his conflict with the record company and thus an insight into a cynical industry. George Michael also invites viewers into his private sphere, and the personal ups and downs he experienced throughout his life. The documentary, on the other hand, does not address any of the drug problems he had with, which led to prison sentences.
George Michael was a great singer and songwriter, and this documentary shows it with full weight. On the other hand, it carries that it is made by himself, good and bad. After watching the movie, I think the best thing about it was the insight of the albums Listen and Older, which he was most proud of. See it as a reminder of the great artist he was. What a loss.
Jackson Booth-Millard
The world was shocked by the news that music icon George Michael had died, Christmas Day 2016, from natural causes (as a result of dilated cardiomyopathy with myocarditis and a fatty liver), aged 53. This film, which he directed himself, alongside David Austin, was completed two days before his sudden death, so additional material was added, it serves as both a celebration and a tribute of the life and career of the acclaimed singer-songwriter. George Michael was born 25th June 1963, he formed the pop duo Wham! in 1981, alongside Andrew Ridgeley, and they had great success with many Top 10 and chart-topping songs, including "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)", "Young Guns (Go for It)", "Bad Boys", "Club Tropicana", "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", "Freedom", "Everything She Wants", "Last Christmas", "I'm Your Man" and "The Edge of Heaven". In 1984, George recorded some solo work, including Number One songs "Careless Whisper" and "A Different Corner", and "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)", the duet with Aretha Franklin, before the breakup of Wham! in 1986. George released his first solo album, Faith, in 1987, hit songs from the album included "I Want Your Sex", "Faith", "Father Figure", "One More Try" and "Kissing a Fool", the album went on to win at the Grammys, the MTV Video Music Awards, the BRITs, and the American Music Awards (awards then were normally given to black artists). His second solo album released was Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, featuring hit songs "Praying for Time", "Freedom '90" (the music video does not feature George, he directed it, it features supermodels, including Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford), "Waiting for That Day", "Heal the Pain" - which later became a duet with Sir Paul McCartney, "Cowboys and Angels" and "Waiting (Reprise)", but George refused to appear on the album cover, or do any real promotion for the album, it went on to win at the BRIT Awards. He released many songs and went on stage, including "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" - the duet with Sir Elton John, "They Won't Go When I Go" (a Stevie Wonder cover), "Living in the City" - live duet with Stevie Wonder, a collaboration with Adamski on "Killer/Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", singing "Desafinado" with Astrud Gilberto, "Too Funky" (his final single with Sony), and a cover of "Somebody to Love", with Queen as part of the Freddie Mercury tribute concert. But George went on hiatus from the music industry, leaving record label Sony, he went to court about ending his contract, he felt he had no control of his work, he lost the case and was out of work for five years, during this time he also suffered the death of his partner, Brazilian dress designer Anselmo Feleppa, who died of an AIDS-related brain haemorrhage. He finally returned to music in 1996, releasing his third solo album, Older, which featured the songs "Jesus to a Child", "Fastlove", "Spinning the Wheel", "Star People" and "You Have Been Loved", the album went on to win at the MTV Europe Awards, the BRITs, and The Ivor Novello Awards. During the late 1990s, George came out as gay, following his arrest for lewd conduct in a public toilet in Los Angeles, he released songs "Outside" (his "coming out" song), "As" - the duet with Mary J. Blige, and "If I Told You That" - the duet with Whitney Houston. George's fourth solo album release was Songs from the Last Century, but none of the songs on the album charted, he also suffered the devastating news in 1999 that mother Lesley had cancer, she died a year later. The fifth and final solo album George released was Patience, with many songs from it charting in the early 2000s, including "Freeek!", "Shoot the Dog" – 2DTV animation in the music video, "Amazing" and "Flawless (Go to the City)". In the late 2000s and early 2010s, George released many compilation albums, including Twenty Five, and released songs including "An Easier Affair", "December Song (I Dreamed of Christmas)" and "How Do You Keep the Music Playing" – duet with Tony Bennett. The documentary features many clips of George's personal home footage, his appearance on BBC Comic Relief – the first Carpool Karaoke with James Corden, his guest star appearance in the Extras Christmas Special, and his performance at the London 2012 Olympics Closing Ceremony. It also features a cover of "Fastlove", a ballad version by Adele (she famously performed it live at the Grammys, and swore requesting to start again), and a new version of "A Different Corner" – a duet with Chris Martin, plays in the end credits. Introduced by Kate Moss, with contributions from David Austin (friend and manager), Emmanuelle Alt (editor of French Vogue), Tony Bennett, Mary J. Blige, Naomi Campbell, James Corden, Cindy Crawford, Clive Davis (Whitney's manager), Tracey Emin, Linda Evangelista (model), Jean Paul Gaultier, Liam Gallagher, Ricky Gervais, Sir Elton John, Tatjana Patitz, Nile Rodgers, Mark Ronson, Christy Turlington (model) and Stevie Wonder. This film really makes you realise how much George Michael changed the music industry, touched many people across the world, how talented he was both writing and his brilliant voice, featuring great use of archive footage, George narrating a lot of it himself, a most watchable music documentary. Very good!
nicerep
What I really liked about this documentary was the insight we got, from George himself, into the beautiful lyrics that he wrote and performed, especially after the death of his first real love, Anselmo. George told us what inspired his song writing before and after his meeting with Anselmo and he showed us, with the help of musical clips, how his various emotions manifested themselves through song. His happiness when he met Anselmo, his sadness when Anselmo died and when his mother died of cancer, his anger when Sony refused to let him go and his humour after his unfortunate encounter in a Beverly Hills loo, Ricky Gervais made us laugh with his take on the affair. Elton John seemed to understand George well and perhaps surprisingly, Liam Gallagher too.They, along with a few other celebrities, helped us get to know George better and by the time Chris Martin started to sing "A Different Corner", his tribute to George at the Brit Awards, there were tears in my eyes. I met George Michael many years ago and we all knew he was gay, but most of all it was obvious that he was a very kind person and very vulnerable, which comes across during this fine documentary. You will laugh and probably cry when you watch Freedom, I dare you not too!
