Review of Janis: Little Girl Blue (2015) by Randy L — 31 Mar 2016

9 times out of 10 when I hear Janis Joplin I will recoil at the caterwauling, or feel indifference. But when in that rare moment, which for me, oddly, was on an overnight plane flight, when you are open for a full-on primal immersion in the Janis Joplin experience.

.. this was probably as good as it gets. It left me convinced that on a good night, she really was vocally transcendent like Billie Holiday or Aretha Franklin. And the film is full of surprisingly candid photos and tons of personal, very revealing letters.

(all read by Chan Marshall, no less). She was undoubtedly everything that her legend has ascribed to her - complex, dangerously sincere, and emotionally tormented. The videos and interviews of her returning to her 10 year high-school reunion, which I have seen before in clips, become heartbreaking when viewed in this broader biographic context.

And, yeah, she was actually frequently beautiful on the outside too.