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OK let’s talk documentary. First, what this film ISN’T.
It’s not a music history piece with talking heads analyzing every song in
chronological order and expounding upon each song’s significance in both
Donna’s career and the history of music in general.
This is not the story Brooklyn and
team wanted to tell, in fact Brooklyn said in an interview that there are
other people who would be better suited to create a work like that.
Unfortunately, that is just the sort
of documentary some people were wanting or expecting, and so some criticism
of the film stems just from that expectation vs reality. And that’s not
really fair.
Now what exactly IS Love To Love You Donna Summer?
Well, it is the story of the woman behind the art – her personality, her
motivations, her insecurities, her heartbreaks… all the things that made
Donna who she was. It is also a love letter from Brooklyn to her mother.
And, it’s the sort of documentary that THIS fan wanted to see. (I don’t
really need to hear talking heads recite dry facts that I probably already
know. Although in fairness, if someone does make a film like that about
Donna, I will watch it… because, you know, Donna.
LOL)
So what do we have? It’s a semi chronological story of
Donna’s life, with music, photos, videos, etc all chosen and placed to
illustrate whatever part of the story they are telling at that point.
Of course we open with Love To Love You Baby – I mean, of course,
right? That’s the name of the movie!
It would be pretty stupid to call it Love To Love You Donna Summer
and then open with Last Dance, right?
LOL I Feel Love is also
used at the very beginning and it sets the tone for the club scene that
really made Donna a star, and let’s be real it has to be the most
significant song in her entire back catalog in terms of music history.
45 years later and people are STILL sampling it or covering it.
From there we move into the meat of the documentary.
And here we have Donna’s story told mostly in voiceovers by family members,
a few friends, and Donna herself, while videos and photos are shown
underneath. Some of Donna’s
voiceovers you may recognize from interviews she gave over the years, some
is new (to us anyway) audio she recorded while she was working on her
autobiography. We start with a general discussion of Donna’s artistry and,
most importantly the revelation that at some point she bought a video
recorder and filmed things ALL THE TIME. (I picture her daughters as
teenagers saying “Oh mom, put the camera away you are SO uncool!” LOL Of
course I also picture those same daughters as adults being thankful their
mom did make all those recordings.) Now there is the explanation why we have
all these wonderful home movies sprinkled liberally throughout the
documentary.
Moving on from there… oh, and this is the spoiler free
part of my report on Love To Love You Donna Summer. I will mark clearly when
I am about to venture into spoiler land. So we move on to discussion of
Donna’s early years – being in The Crow, moving to New York and then to
Germany and being in Hair. Then
we go on to becoming famous, trying to figure out how to balance fame and
family life, bringing her family into her shows, meeting Bruce, and leaving
Peter.
From there it is back to the business/creative end of
things with talk about songwriting, about Casablanca undermining the success
of Dim All The Lights by perhaps prematurely releasing Enough Is Enough and
a quick mention of Donna’s lawsuit against Casablanca. From there we go to
the story of She Works Hard For The Money (both its creation and
significance) – and that comes with a cute home video (that’s in the trailer
so I don’t consider it a spoiler) of little Brooklyn singing, followed by
Donna just belting it out in the backyard.
From there Donna’s career slows down a bit as she
focuses on family, painting, and faith. And that of course leads to “the
rumor” - Adam and Steve. Bruce freely admits that they screwed up the way
they handled that situation. They thought it would go away, but it didn’t
and then it morphed into the AIDS is divine retribution thing that Donna
absolutely DID NOT say. And unfortunately that’s become something that just
won’t go away. And it hurt her. (Which is not to say it didn’t hurt her gay
fans. Please don’t get me wrong on that. I have articles in my article
archive that specifically address “the rumor”. My personal take on that was
the Adam and Steve thing was
Donna’s “open mouth insert foot” moment. I believe that she thought she was
making a silly joke to get the women to sing along to Woman instead of the
men and she had no idea how hurtful that joke could be. If she had, she
never would have said it. And
yeah, not addressing it quickly made it much worse.
As for the divine retribution quote,
I knew that was garbage the first time I heard it. Put aside how Donna felt
– or how you think she felt - about gays. That quote doesn’t jive with the
way she talks about God. Divine retribution is the domain of a vengeful Old
Testament God. The God Donna always talked about was a loving New Testament
one. Just my two cents….)
From there we reach the end of Donna’s life. We get to
see some of Donna’s last Christmas and of course we hear the family talk a
bit about her last days. And it is very sad. Brooklyn caps off that
segment with a song that, in my opinion, just fits perfectly.
But that’s not the end. The film does not leave on a
sad note. As you cry through the last notes of that perfect song, you are
suddenly greeted with a series of hilarious outtakes from the 1980 TV
Special. That makes me think of two things. The first is an interview Bruce
did when his Angels On A Carousel came out. That album was written when
Donna was sick and she had told him that he cannot write a sad depressing
record. He had to give people hope. The other thing I thought of was the
funeral scene in the movie Steel Magnolias. If you have seen that movie
you know what I am talking about, and if you haven’t – then you really need
to watch it.
And that’s still not the end because as the credits
roll – they play a demo of Bad Girls. A demo we never got to hear before.
(Okay, that might be a spoiler. Deal with it.
LOL)
And now on to the real spoilers.
STOP HERE IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN LOVE TO LOVE YOU DONNA
SUMMER AND WANT TO GO IN SPOILER FREE!
You have
been warned!
I guess I’ll start with the music. The music is not all
that chronological. Instead, songs are used that best illustrate whatever is
going on in the story at the time. I mean, of course they play Love To Love
You, I Feel Love, Dim All the Lights, etc when those songs are specifically
being discussed. But songs like
Summer Fever and Bad Girls are used when talking about Donna’s fame. Black
Lady is used to underscore the novelty of being a black woman in Germany in
the late 60s/early 70s. And some songs have “new” video to go with them. For
example, I Feel Love starts off as the same clip we used to see on VH1 all
the time, but then it gets replaced by other live concert footage that I
have never seen before. She Works Hard For The Money has the home movie
footage I mentioned before, and Dim All The Lights uses the
1980 TV Special footage, but it starts differently than they did it
for the broadcast. Oh and I almost forgot. You know the live version of I
Feel Love on the original Live & More where she sings “feel it" a few times?
There is a lot more before the feel its that I never heard before.
😊
We also have a few surprises sneaked in. Can’t
Understand sounds like a demo, Bad Girls is the unheard demo I talked about
before, and then there are “new” songs – which are mostly just snippets of
songs. In order they are:
When I Believe In Miracles (written and performed by
Donna). This is from a home movie of Donna at the piano with a little
Brooklyn.
Just Say You Don’t Love Me (written by Hoby Cook and
performed by The Crow). This plays as they talk about The Crow.
Take Your Baby Home (written by Danny Peck and
performed by Donna, Bruce and Danny). This is the scene with the three of
them singing around the table.
Watchin’ Daddy Dance (Performed by Sunshine and written
by Donna and Bruce). I don’t know if this counts as “new” as bootlegs of
this have circulated in the past, but you get to see studio footage of them
working on the song.
Electricity (written and performed by Donna and Bruce).
This is a scene of the two of them noodling around in the studio while the
voice over talks about the way Donna and Bruce wrote together.
Two Kids Playing In An Alleyway (written and performed
by Donna). This is Donna at the piano when she is interrupted by a phone
call.
Lost In The Moment (written and performed by Bruce).
This plays under a discussion of marriage, motherhood and spirituality.
Just The Other Day (written and performed by Donna). I
believe this is the one that plays under the discussion of Donna’s cancer,
but that one is hard to make out under the dialogue.
And before you ask – all the song credits are right
there in the movie credits (assuming you are watching on a device that
actually lets you read the credits instead of shrinking them into a tiny box
surrounded by ads for the next thing you can watch. I freaking HATE that! I
am the nerd who likes to see credits!)
On to some of the revelations…
Ok, I guess the first thing is the fact that Donna was
abused by a pastor when she was a teenager. I mean, those who saw Summer:
The Donna Summer Musical found out about it, but that was not something
Donna ever discussed publicly while she was alive. She was also physically
abused by her boyfriend, Peter Mühldorfer.
He was jealous of her success, and at one point beat her unconscious – broke
a couple ribs, etc. Nice guy,
huh? Strangely enough, he was willing to talk to Brooklyn about this and he
says that is something he never forgave himself for. After that, Casablanca
made him go away. Then, Donna and Bruce had a tempestuous relationship in
their younger days. Mary described then as oil and vinegar that together
made a really great salad dressing.
(Love that description!) But of course in the end it all worked out –
they stayed together the remainder of Donna’s life, and (get your tissues
ready) on her deathbed she told him, “You are my heart.” (Dammit, my screen
is getting blurry…)
Other things that came up – Mimi herself was a victim
of abuse from someone related to Donna’s housekeeper. That has been in the
publicity. What was absolutely gutting was her revelation that at about the
age of 12 she moved in with her mom full time (she had been going back and
forth to her grandparents before then) and the reason she opted to do this
instead of going back to the grandparents – knowing the risk involved - was
because she couldn’t leave Brooklyn and Amanda there alone to face that risk
themselves. We see Brooklyn brought to tears by that revelation. As for
Donna and Bruce – Mimi didn’t tell them what was going on until she was 19.
Mimi must have been one tough kid to keep that inside for so long.
And then of course there is the cancer. We get to see
footage of Christmas 2011 where they are looking forward to a better 2012.
Death was not talked about while Donna was ill because she didn’t want to
give death power. One thing that hit me really hard about this part of the
movie was Mimi talking about one night when her mom couldn’t sleep, so she
rubbed her mom’s back until she fell asleep. And she said her mom was so
tiny at that point that she just pulled her into her lap and just kept
rubbing her back. It was like her mom was a helpless baby. As someone who
fairly recently lost one parent and now finds herself in the position of
caregiver to the other – that struck a nerve. And I think it probably will
for many of us watching. Let’s face it, most of the diehard fans are of a
certain age and we are dealing with the loss or infirmity of our aging
parents.
They then end the story with
If There Is Music There (the VH1 clip). That’s a song I have always
loved and I remember after the VH1 taping, all the fans there were talking
about it - raving about it actually. It’s moving all on its own, but placed
after discussion of Donna’s death the lyrics take on new meaning and I DARE
you not to cry. That song will always be a little different to me now. Just
listen to the end…. “I’m sorry
honey. I did love you, but I
just have to go.” Tell me that’s not
perfect. (And yeah, there is music in heaven… Donna is there.)
But like the documentary, I will not end on a sad note.
I absolutely LOVED the outtakes from the 1980 TV Special. You know those
scenes where they would have Donna in close-up saying something to
transition to the next song, or even to sing part of the next song?
(The
special is on YouTube if you haven’t seen it for awhile.) Well, the
outtakes were mostly from those close-up shots. She was pulling faces and
doing funny accents. There was even
one clip from from the live part of the show where she said (in a funny
accent) “There is too much light, you are bleaching my color.” (I feel like
I want to use that line somewhere – which would be absolutely ridiculous
coming from someone like me who has no color to speak of – well, other than
the occasional sunburnt red.
LOL)If they EVER release the special commercially, it better have outtakes
as a bonus!
Oh! I almost forgot! There are videos of Brooklyn (and
others) going through Donna’s stuff. There is a whole giant room filled with
paintings and awards and such! I think it is part of “the vault.” When can
we raid it? LOL
Complete song list: Love To Love You
Baby, I Feel Love, When I Believe In Miracles, Elijah Rock by Mahalia
Jackson, Once Upon A Time, Faster And Faster,
Walk Away, Just Say You Don’t Love
Me, Piece Of My Heart by Janis Joplin, Can’t Understand, Born To Die, Let
The Sunshine In by the German cast of Hair, Aquarius by the German cast of
Hair, Black Lady, Spring Affair, Lady Of The Night, Summer Fever, Bad Girls,
Mimi’s Song, MacArthur Park, Take Your Baby Home, The Man I Love,
Watchin’ Daddy Dance, I Got It Bad
(And That Ain’t Good), Hot Stuff, Last Dance, I Love You, Electricity, Dim
All The Lights, No More Tears (Enough Is Enough), She Works Hard For The
Money, Two Kids Playing In An Alleyway, Lost In The Moment by Bruce Sudano,
Winter Wonderland by Johnny Mathis, I Found The Answer, On The Radio,
Forgive Me, Woman, I’m A Rainbow, Just The Other Day, Heaven’s Just A
Whisper Away, If There Is Music There, Sunset People
Voice overs by: Donna Summer, Brooklyn
Sudano, Bruce Sudano, Mimi Dohler, Amanda Sudano Ramirez, Mary Gaines
Bernard, Dara Bernard, Ric Gaines, Jack Waddell, Helmuth Sommer, Joyce
Bogart Trabulus, Giorgio Moroder, Pete Bellotte, Bob Conti, Susan Munao,
Peter Mühldorfer,
Elton John, Bobby Stewart, fan David M. (Some of these people only have a
line or 2 – some talk throughout the whole film. Not counting Donna – and
they have a ton of audio from her! - Mary, Mimi and later Bruce have the
most to say. )
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