Media

Review: Aretha Franklin's 'Amazing Grace' Film Is Amazing -- Really

March 26, 2019, 12:24 AM by  Allan Lengel


Aretha Franklin in "Amazing Grace."

From the get-go, from her very first song in the documentary – a Marvin Gaye tune called “Wholy Holy” – Aretha Franklin blows you away with her distinctive, soulful voice, a powerful reminder why she’ll forever be hailed as the Queen of Soul.

Her electric voice permeates --traveling through the soul, to the heart, to the tear ducts, to the senses. It’s distinctively Detroit. 

On Monday night, before a dapper crowd at the Detroit Institute of Arts – some wearing tuxes and glamorous party dresses and furs – the long-anticipated Franklin film, “Amazing Grace,” premiered -- 47 years after it was made. (A two-minute trailer is below.)

The two-day gospel session for Franklin was filmed at the Missionary Temple Baptist Church in Watts, Los Angeles in January 1972, two months before Franklin turned 30. 

Mick Jagger cameos

Together with the admiring Southern California Community Choir and the very talented Rev. James Cleveland as MC, they recorded her top-selling double album, "Amazing Grace." Hollywood director Sydney Pollack oversaw the 87-minute film and is seen throughout, directing the cameras. Occasionally, the cameras turn to a young Mick Jagger in the audience clapping to the music.

The movie’s release was delayed by technical issues (a sound-syncing error) and by Franklin herself who resisted. But the Franklin family reportedly gave in after seeing the film at the Charles H. Wright Museum last fall.


The scene at the DIA after Monday's screening.

Yes, it’s a concert movie. But far more. It felt like the DIA audience was in the LA church, applauding with the congregation, enjoying a musical miracle from Detroit. Those in attendance Monday night included members of the Franklin family, Martha Reeves, ex-boxer Tommy Hearns and the film’s producer, UCLA music professor Alan Elliott. 

In the movie, on the second day of filming, Aretha’s father, Rev. C.L. Franklin. gets up to the podium and talks about his daughter’s immense talent.

“I know you were impressed with her gift with her voice with her intangible something that’s hard to describe,” he tells the church audience. “But it was more than that…It took me all the way back to the living room at home when she was six and seven years of age. It took me back to about 11 when she started traveling with me on the road, singing gospel. I saw you crying.  But I was about bust wide open."

Full ownership of each song


Franklin and James Cleveland, 47 years ago.

While Aretha Franklin sings, you can see the male choir singer tearing up. Ditto for the Rev. Cleveland, who contributes some fine singing. 

The songs she sings in the film include "Amazing Grace," which originated in the 1700s, and “You’ve Got a Friend,” a Carole King tune from 1971. But in what has always been the case, Franklin takes ownership of the the songs she sings, making you forget, or not care, who originally sang them.  

Franklin died last Aug. 16 at age 76. On Monday, the day her film premiered, she would have turned 77. After the film, everyone in the audience sang happy birthday.

When all was done, it felt so uplifting. Suffice to say, "Amazing Grace" really is amazing.

The film will first be released April 5 in New York and Los Angles, and nationally April 19.  



Leave a Comment:

Photo Of The Day