Amazing Grace is a Sydney Pollack directed documentary of Aretha Franklin performing gospel songs at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles in 1972. Unlike every other music documentary I've ever seen, Amazing Grace is pretty much no chat and non stop music.
As most readers will already know Aretha Franklin was the undisputed queen of soul and she began singing gospel hymns as a teenager. Aretha was raised by the Reverend C.L. Franklin, who was the most famous gospel preacher of the 1950s - commanding $4,000 dollars a sermon. We see the incredibly well groomed Reverend gently mop his daughter's brow. There are also various other enjoyable cameos from the director and from Mick and Charlie from The Rolling Stones.
A double album of Amazing Grace was released in July 1972 and was a huge hit with both critics and the public. However, the film version has only just been released as there were technical problems with what Pollack shot that have only just been sorted out.
Aretha's gospel project was a collaboration with James Cleveland and the Southern California Community Choir.
Cleveland is a joy to watch and all the musicians and singers are simply superb. Aretha sings a mixture of both old Gospel classics (How I Got Over, Give Yourself To Jesus) and contemporary pop songs such as Marvin Gaye's Wholy Holy and James Taylor's You've Got A Friend. In my opinion you don't have to be a Christian believer to love these songs. Looking around at looks on the faces of the people in the cinema with me, I saw shock, wonderment and bliss. It's brilliant that this long lost film is now being screened. Aretha really is amazing. Don't miss out.
Text by Simone Hoffs
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