Luther's amazing documentary

[glencro]

The documentary debuted in Detroit after a successful showing at the Sundance Film Festival. It was an amazing celebration of the life, legacy and longing for love of Luther Vandross. Appearances from Nile Rodgers, Lisa Fischer, Clive Davis, Fonzi Thornton, Jamie Foxx, Valerie Simpson, Dionne Warwick and others. Very rare video footage, great concert performaces. There were tears and cheers. Can't wait to see it again.

[Motown Eddie]

Thanks for the review Glencro! I'm hoping that the Luther Vandross Documentary plays at a theater in my area [or comes to a streaming service that I use] so I see it.

[sansradio]

And now featuring at this year's Tribeca Film Festival--another local chance [for me] to see it!

[jack020]

https://soulfuldetroit.com/showthrea...ghlight=luther

[Motown Eddie]

And now featuring at this year's Tribeca Film Festival--another local chance [for me] to see it!

That's Wonderful! Can you tell me when The Luther Vandross Documentary is playing at the Tribeca Film Festival?

[carlo]

Thank you for the review, glencro!

[sansradio]

That's Wonderful! Can you tell me when The Luther Vandross Documentary is playing at the Tribeca Film Festival?

Sometime between June 5 and 16. Are you a Noo Yawkah like me?

https://tribecafilm.com/films/luther...-too-much-2024

[Motown Eddie]

Sometime between June 5 and 16. Are you a Noo Yawkah like me?

Yep, I'm a 'Native Noo Yawkah' like you so I'll check the site for the Tribeca Film Fest in June for showtimes for Luther's Documentary. Thanks for the info!

[sansradio]

Yep, I'm a 'Native Noo Yawkah' like you so I'll check the site for the Tribeca Film Fest in June for showtimes for Luther's Documentary. Thanks for the info!

You got it...although I can't claim to be a native.

[carlo]

I managed to see the documentary as well and it is excellent. I enjoyed it and even learned a few things. There was some nice rehearsal footage included throughout. I felt that they did a really good job of telling his story in a respectful manner. In my opinion, they didn't side step anything, but there are also no earth-shattering revelatory bombs. I was glad that they mostly focused on interviewing friends and musical colleagues of his, that were closest to him. I find many modern day documentaries waste screen-time by interviewing too many young artists, in order to provide context for artistic impact.

My only criticism is that since Luther is not here to tell his own story, I walked away feeling that it was missing a little extra depth, which perhaps only he would have been able to provide. For instance, his childhood was very much glossed over. They do mention his father's passing when he was 8, and his early musical influences. However, there was no mention of how many siblings he had, or having grown up in public housing development. There was just a quick clip from one of his interviews, where he says he was never aware if his family was rich or poor, they were just happy. I feel that they should have at least talked about his musical talent that was evident at a very young age. Even his Wikipedia page says that as a child, he taught himself piano by ear. This was not discussed. The doc just shows a clip of him saying he knew he wanted to sing at the age of 13.

Overall, I feel that the documentary does service to his immense talent and shining persona. I have always felt that Luther has been severely under appreciated by the general public and music industry. I am glad that this documentary was created to remind people of his artistic and historical significance.