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Janis: Little Girl Blue

posted 8 years ago by MikeF-6
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Janis: Little Girl Blue (2015) / Amy Berg. Most documentaries are filmed in the style used here: a narrator, archival photos and film footage, and interviews with the people involved in the events. Whether or not a documentary such as this will appeal to you depends on the subject matter. For me, Janis Joplin was a formative influence so I was very much interested and very much moved by what I saw. Janis Lyn Joplin was born in 1943 in very conservative Port Arthur, Texas. Janis was the person who could not fit in. She stood up in high school for racial integration and took a lot of bullying because of it. She didn’t dress in the neat feminine clothes of the times; she didn’t go to the Prom. She drove around at all hours with boys. After discovering her singing voice, she left home for San Francisco looking to sing the blues. She became a regional celebrity when she joined the band Big Brother and the Holding Company and burst onto the national scene with a no-holds barred performance (with Big Brother) of “Ball and Chain” at the Monterey (California) Pop Festival in 1967. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5N5Wh7mm_qUThe film traces her climb to further fame as well as her battles with alcohol and heroin. In 1970, to everybody’s knowledge, she was off heroin but was still drinking heavily. She had always expected that some day she would blow out her voice, but a new producer, Paul A. Rothchild (1935-1995) had taught her that she had many voices, not just the all-out one. This lead to recording her third album, “Pearl” and her only Top 40 hit, Kris Kristofferson’s “Me And Bobby McGee.” With just one track left to record, she died in a motel room of a heroin overdose at age 27, one of the greatest losses in pop music history. This film left me feeling very emotional. Available on DVD and Netflix streaming.

mf

Trust me. I’m The Doctor.

[–] Maddyclassicfilms 8 years ago

Hi MikeF-6,

I loved this one. I've become a fan of Janis over the last few years, she had such a unique voice. When Janis sings she makes you feel the song and really makes an impact. What I like about her is that she seemed so cool and down to earth. She didn't seem to have any airs and I get the impression that if fans ever approached her she'd happily hang out with them for a while.

I feel so sorry for her how she was treated at school. So sad that she seemed so close to some happiness near the end of her life.

I loved the recording studio footage. This is a documentary that I wish had been longer and had included even more.

I'm 28 and it saddens me that Janis never got to live to my age.

Go to bed Frank or this is going to get ugly .

[–] PenTheater 8 years ago

I have this. I watched it. I also have a few bios and tapes of Janice, as well as all her music. I really recommend the one by her sister Laura.

It's going to be one of those DVD's you have to have for the library, but realize you are not going to be able to sit down and watch it too many times in your life.

Ephemeron.