The movie is Hollywood’s biopic at its near worst. It represents a formless assortment of historical occurrences and lip-synched musical numbers. How possible can it be for a movie to capture all the multitudes, reinventions as well as contradictions of James Brown singly? Only one movie has been able to do that after many years. Indeed Get on Up is a one of a kind film. The movie has been able to make an excellent, fitfully successful shot of the life of the brilliant and volatile soul icon.
Even though several people might fault about the movie, one distinct feature is the constant availability of the movie star. He was able to play the role of Brown right from when he was sixteen years old to sixty years. The flashback arrangement provides the movie with a mandate to pilfer from other movies that do not use flashback. The movie goes forward, backward, around and ends up circling back to Brown’s capacity to show happiness. In one instance, we are placed in 1968 set up where he was performing for Vietnam troops. This was after him, and his crew had stepped out of a burning transportation plane.
In most ways, James Brown goes against comprehension. He performed for approximately six decades after joining the industry during the nineteen-fifties. No other artist had Brown’s convulsive blend of musical ecstasy and genius. He was a strong man who was shrewd enough to cast beside a good taste. The movie is not really concerned about exploring the importance of Brown’s music to any of the several styles it swayed. Instead, the movie just plays some of the best hits by Brown. However, the screenwriters were able to hide this fact by fragmenting the storyline. This involved jumping back and forth through time in the film. Additionally, this point was backed up with regard to emotional build up and momentum.
As a narrative, the mix up of different scenes in an unrelated fashion did not show any direct plot of the movie. One had to watch the movie for quite some time before getting the gist of what was happening. In one instance, the film takes the viewers to 1930s South Carolina where James, his mom, and his aunt are introduced. In another case, the film takes the viewers to 1970s where Brown is seen mistreating his right-hand man Byrd Bobby. The biopic that was devoted to Brown’s life and music is somewhat candid. This lies with the fact that the movie emphasizes that he was soulless during his personal relationships and life.
If musical mastermind is a skill that is randomly bestowed, it then requires intense neurotic cultivation to arrive at fruition. Brown has been portrayed as a monumental perfectionist, egoist, and harsh taskmaster who is characterized with a stripe of paranoia. James Brown in the movie has been portrayed as an absolute monarch of his own personal kingdom. Thus, he was not answerable to anyone else but himself.
His tyrannical nature is revealed during a brutal rehearsal where Brown grows increasingly infuriated with his musicians as they ran through “Cold Sweat” song. For instance, he attacks his musicians’ instruments by referring to them that no matter what they look like, he sees them as drums. This is one of the scenes he mishandles his musicians, most of whom leave.
The movie thrillingly brings out Brown’s happenings in his life on a personal front and musical front. Traumatic childhood memories arise in his flashes. He suffers in the cabin where he resided with his father and mother. Mashing up of the past, and the present forces are features not applied in many movies. However, this feature has been used in the movie to sum up the experience of the musical genius. It also brings out different genres with which Brown engaged in. The film also brings out Brown’s early contact to gospel. For instance, his early acquaintance to gospel during a revival meeting that directly affected his style of music.
James’ childhood and youth, is portrayed in larger than life cartoonlike structures. His impoverished life in the backwoods of South Carolina during his childhood portrayed his rural hardship where both parents were fighting to possess him. Living in a cabin in the woods was a sign of poverty and rural hardship. From the movie, we can also identify some elements of racism. In one of the most provocative scenes of the movie, Brown alongside other black boys is put in the boxing ring while blindfolded and ordered to fight among themselves for the entertainment of the whites. This shows how much Brown had to suffer in order to be where he was.
It is unique that the movie uses the original recordings and a lot of lip synching, choreography, and staging hence the movie recreating Brown’s full profile. Conclusively, the director of the film indeed knew what was expected of it hence directing one of the best biopic movies known.
Reference
Holden, S. (2014). ‘Get On Up’ Stars Chadwick Boseman as James Brown. Nytimes.com. Retrieved 30 November 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/01/movies/get-on-up-stars-chadwick-boseman-as-james-brown.html
