Zappa is an American documentary film about the musician Frank Zappa. Directed by Alex Winter, it was released on November 27, 2020.[1][2][3][4][5]
| Zappa | |
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 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Alex Winter |
| Produced by |
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| Cinematography | Anghel Decca |
| Edited by | Mike J. Nichols |
| Music by | John Frizzell |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Magnolia Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 127 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Frank Zappa (1940–1993) was an American composer, bandleader, and guitarist. Best known for writing and performing a large body of unconventional rock music and releasing many albums, his work combined multiple music genres. He held iconoclastic views about music, the music industry, and American culture and politics.
The Zappa documentary tells the story of his life and career. Director Alex Winter had free access to Zappa's extensive archives. The film includes footage of performances by Zappa and his various bands, as well as many interviews of people who knew or worked with him. In addition to Zappa himself, the interview subjects include Bruce Bickford, Pamela Des Barres, Bunk Gardner, Mike Keneally, Scott Thunes, Ian Underwood, Ruth Underwood, Steve Vai, Ray White, and Gail Zappa.
Reception
editZappa was nominated for a Critics' Choice Award for Best Music Documentary.[6]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 96% of 71 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The website's consensus reads: "As rich and complex as its subject's best work, Zappa honors the life and career of a musical legend without falling into hagiography."[7] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 76 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[8]
Peter Sobczynski of RogerEbert.com gave the film three and a half out of four stars and wrote, "Zappa contains maybe two real flaws. While some of Zappa's lyrics have been criticized for being sexist and puerile—this is the guy who wrote the deathless classic 'Don't Eat The Yellow Snow'—that aspect of his musical output is pretty much glossed over. The other problem is that the lack of any full performances of his songs will not exactly bolster the case for his musical genius among those who do not already lean in that direction. Other than that, the film is a complex and surprisingly satisfying portrait of an artist who defiantly marched to the beat of a different drummer (or two)."[9]
Owen Gleiberman of Variety wrote, "When Winter takes on a subject like this one, he doesn't just explore it; he surrounds and penetrates it. Yet what surprised me about Zappa — it's the source of its emotional power — is that the movie insists on seeing Frank Zappa not from the outside but, rather, in the way that he saw himself: as a deadly serious and obsessive aesthete-musician in freak's clothing, a man consumed by breaking out of what he viewed as the shackling boundaries of the pop-music business."[10]
References
edit- ^ Pederson, Erik (August 6, 2020). "Zappa: Magnolia Pictures Serving Up Frank Zappa Documentary for Thanksgiving". Deadline. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
- ^ Tangcay, Jazz (November 28, 2020). "Alex Winter on Telling the Story of 'Paradoxical' Frank Zappa in New Doc: 'It Took Us Years to Get It Right'". Variety. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
- ^ Pulver, Andrew (February 19, 2021). "Zappa Review – Under the Skin of the Wild Man of American Rock". The Guardian. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
- ^ Kenny, Glenn (November 26, 2020). "Zappa Review: Portrait of a Rock Star and a Nation's Hero". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 29, 2020. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
- ^ Fear, David (November 28, 2020). "Zappa Review: A Modernist Mozart Who Happened to Be a Rock Star". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 3, 2023. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
- ^ Hammond, Pete (October 26, 2020). "Critics' Choice Documentary Awards Nominations: 'Mr. Soul', 'Gunda', 'Crip Camp' and 'Totally Under Control' Top List". Deadline. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
- ^ "Zappa". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
- ^ "Zappa". Metacritic. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
- ^ Sobczynski, Peter (November 27, 2020). "Zappa". Roger Ebert. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
- ^ Gleiberman, Owen (November 23, 2020). "Zappa Review: Alex Winter's Documentary Hauntingly Captures the Skewed Passion of Frank Zappa, a One-of-a-Kind Rock Legend". Variety. Retrieved May 27, 2024.