Janis: Little Girl Blue

Dir: Amy J. Berg

2015

***

Amy J. Berg's document of the life and times of Janis Joplin reveals an interesting childhood and a suggestion of how that affected her later life but with no real revelation of who she really was and what made her tick. I'm not sure any fan of the singer would learn anything they didn't already know from this 2015 documentary but it does feature some brilliant talking head interviews from the likes of Kris Kristofferson, Bob Weir, D.A. Pennebaker, Dick Cavett and surviving members of Big Brother and the Holding Company. While it was interesting to hear about her childhood rebellion against the local KKK, to hear her letters read aloud by Cat Power and to see some amazing archive footage of her interviews and concerts, it is the story of her tragic lost love Dave Niehaus that really got me. After hearing about all the torment, anger, frustration and fear Janis went through, she really could have been saved by Niehaus, whom she met in Rio de Janeiro during Mardi gras. We learn towards the ending of the film that the last thing Janis did the night she died was write a letter to Niehaus, declaring her eternal love for him. Unfortunately this makes up only a few minutes of the film. Even though she was only 27 when she died, a 90 minute film was always going to struggle to cover everything with the detail it deserved, I just don't think the really interesting stuff made the final edit (although it should be said that the editing itself is brilliant). Maybe I'm being unfairly tough on Berg but I believe she has always asked for a certain approach from her critics. Deliver Us from Evil is a hell of a film but I thought her 2012 film West of Memphis, as good as it was, stepped on the toes of Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky somewhat and you've always got to look at why a fellow documentary maker would do that to another. I think the biggest issue I had was that I thought that it would probably only appeal to fans of Joplin and her music. A really good documentary should appeal to everyone but that's just my opinion.