Alicia
I love this movie so much
Invaderbank
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
Loui Blair
It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.
bbbaldie
I was amazed to learn how Graceland came about. Turns out many of the songs were instrumentals from the African groups involved which Paul tweaked a bit and then later added lyrics to. What a great tale of creation and cooperation! Paul was vilified by a few for breaking the boycott against South Africa, despite the fact that he performed with exiled artists and also shared with the world some very talented black artists who certainly weren't supporting obnoxious government policies. The angry ones are nowadays pretty much over it, as depicted in the film.What keeps this from being a 10 is the useless addition of Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldeberg. They had nothing to do with Simon's actions, and their opinions matter as much as mine, in other words, not at all. Whoopi, shouldn't you be out pleading the case for Roman Polanski or something? Off to listen to Graceland now...
RainDogJr
UNDER African SKIES may be one of the best "making of" ever made. There are many other elements that certainly make it something more than just a "making of", but in essence it's just that, a look at how Paul Simon's classic album "Graceland" was created. In fact, the project began as many others: to celebrate a special anniversary of the record, the number 25, with a concert. To begin, and if we think only in the musical stuff, the fact that every key musician in the realization of "Graceland" are still alive and could be localized for the first reunion in years with Simon give a whole lot more value to the celebration idea. So, director Joe Berlinger went to South Africa to capture this reunion of Simon and the African musicians, their rehearsals and finally the anniversary concert (celebrated in Johannesburg). Is a real joy to see these musicians together, and you don't really have to know "Graceland" or any other Paul Simon record for that matter. Soon you'll get the essence of the record, you'll know its origins, the composition process (of both the music and the lyrics), the recording process, personal experiences of the people involved, and mostly the context. If as a "making of" this is a very rich work, as a documentary on the apartheid is even more. I don't think I'm the only one who some months ago came out from the theater thinking that Bob Marley has been socially the most important musician ever. In the documentary MARLEY (Kevin Macdonald, 2012) we see a couple of issues that in specific show the power of music – Marley provoking a peaceful encounter between two rival politicians in Jamaica, and his visit to Zimbabwe during the independence celebration. There's no doubt UNDER African SKIES achieves its main goal and exposes how important was "Graceland" for a South African society that was devastated by the apartheid. The interesting thing can be observed with the little big differences between Paul Simon and someone like Marley. A year prior to the independence of Zimbabwe, Marley wrote a superb anti-colonization piece, simply titled "Zimbabwe". Simon, on the other hand, was never interested in political subjects and the only reason why he traveled to South Africa was the huge love he had for African music. So the interesting is that the admirable conviction of Simon to make music with the Africans didn't mean anything but the liberation of a nation that suffered its government and the international boycott too. Simon's message was almost involuntary but just as important as the ones of people like Marley. The richness of this documentary can be summarized with a couple of situations that involves the South African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo. One is just a musical gem, and the other makes us think; but both are about discovering and emotion. For our delight, two members of Ladysmith Black Mambazo take us to their first musical encounter with Simon, the preparation of the "Graceland" tune "Homeless". The other situation is something we will never fully understand: what did the South African musicians feel when they leaved their country to see the "free" world, walk in the streets of Manhattan, enter the Saturday Night Live studio? UNDER African SKIES shows a battle for art, for the freedom of its creators and the need to keep it independent of any political force, all with a controversial but mostly just fascinating soundtrack. *Watched it on 16 February, 2013
runamokprods
This documentary celebrates the 25th anniversary of Paul Simon's great Graceland' album. At the same time it questions Simon's political choices in going to South Africa to record during the U.N. approved cultural boycott, seeking to keep South Africa isolated and thus put more pressure on the white regime to step down. Simon's reply is that artists shouldn't be subject to arbitrary political decisions - they must follow their heart and muse first, and he did more to help raise awareness of South Africa by going than by staying away. The film doesn't take clear sides on these questions and that's fine, a documentary doesn't have to take sides on such a morally complex issue to be successful. But there is something a bit slippery in Simon's somewhat pat answers that seem to be given a pass. And a meeting between Simon and Dali Tambo, the South African head of Artists Against Apartheid' feels awkward and staged, each man explaining to the other their point of view on what happened, ending with what felt like a very forced forgiveness hug. Is the film letting Simon off too easily? Or is his very awkwardness Berlinger's point? (even his embraces of the musicians who played with him on the album feel like they might not have happened is there wasn't a camera rolling) . One telling detail, the fact that Simon took first credit on all the music, even though – as we hear some of the original pre-Simon instrumentals from the album – we realize that many of the songs are almost identical, just somewhat re-arranged by Simon. Taking first writing credit seems like an act of hubris that the film never mentions or questions.
lucia-thie
Under African Skies rises above the standard music documentary to celebrate an iconic artist and/or album. In this case, it is set against the controversy about working with South African artists in a time when there was a UN cultural boycott against South Africa. What is shown in this documentary is how the iconic Graceland album (released in 1986) came about and most importantly: how the tracks were created. Defying and defending the free spirit of an artist, Paul Simon, who is above all a musician and not a politician, brought his fascination and respect for South African talented musicians (Ray Phiri, Ladysmith Black Mambazo) to the world via this album. Old footage is interspersed with newly shot material of Paul Simon's visit, 25 years since he first set foot in South Africa, and playing again with these same musicians. Warning: it is not possible to view this documentary without humming, singing and dancing along with the songs : )
