Zappa

Zappa was a composer, not a “rock star.” This documentary focuses on his legacy as a composer.
Frank Zappa was always difficult to pigeonhole. He got his musical tastes starting with old R&B and Avante Garde music. His core interests always started with composing and then playing. He took this style to make films, had his own recording studio, build his own record label and even dabble in politics. Regardless of the work, Zappa was always an absolute taskmaster to work for (not *with*). This documentary does a great job of following these basic threads until Frank was taken from us at the age of 52.Some have argued that it dances too lightly around Frank’s relationship with Gail (versus other dalliances throughout his life). But it uses interviews with Gail to address this issue; something not found elsewhere. It beats speculation/moralizing/handwaving by others who may or may not have direct experience with Zappa. If it leaves the viewer uncomfortable well that’s just the messy life of a complicated man.The documentary does show how Frank and Gail built Zappa’s business as a composer and musician. Having Zappa’s level of control over the business of your music is extraordinarily rare in the pop world and almost unheard of when studying composers in any genre. The views of Zappa’s huge library are impressive. But combined with video of the work by musicians (e.g. Ensemble Moderne) to actually play Zappa’s compositions as Zappa intended is the capstone of this documentary.It’s these final moments when we see the (very rare) expression of pure joy on Frank’s face when conducting a group of talented musicians who want nothing more than to capture the composer’s intentions. The documentary ends on this high note and rightfully so.It doesn’t delve into the legal squabbles that have taken over the Zappa Family business in the past few years. Some may think this should have been covered but this was recent news and has evolved well after Zappa’s death.For anyone who’s a real FZ fan (and I am) this documentary is a real treat. And if you are just casually interested it’s still a great story of a composer/musician’s life that makes it a fascinating watch.Side note: it’s really impressive to watch the credits and see the huge number of folks whose lives intersected with Zappa. And it’s important to see how many of the real royalty of rock ‘n roll would make a point to just visit (or play) with him.

Important document, well put together!
2020 saw the release of a film, simply entitled “Zappa”, a documentary, six years in making, directed by Alex Winter, who had an unlimited access to the enormous vaults of the Zappa Family Trust. It tells a chronological story of Zappa’s life and music in a coherent, well-organized way and discloses fascinating footage from many sources and even features, in addition to the music composed by Zappa, also an original soundtrack composed by John Frizzell. The running time is 127 minutes.The film is an important document, oriented mainly towards people less familiar with his biography. Several in depth books published over the years offer a much more profound analysis of his personality, musical outlook, life philosophy and so on, but of course the limited scope of a documentary is able to offer but a glimpse at such complex subjects. Nevertheless, in comparison to the plethora of music “documentaries” produced in the last few years, which are mostly shallow and trivial, this film offers a genuine effort to paint a picture of a multifaceted human being and Artist, notwithstanding its limitations.Personally, I found the interviews with Zappa’s wife Gail Zappa, who was already gravely ill with cancer at the time, and several of the musicians who were members of his bands over the years, most revealing. The most touching is the interview with Ruth Underwood, who explains how Zappa’s music changed her musical perspective and influenced her life.Overall, although offering just a peephole into Zappa’s life and music, the film is absolutely worth watching, and even perhaps revisited more than once. Zappa’s life deserves a much broader documentation, but realistically we won’t probably see that happening before the lights on this planet go out. Thank God and the Zappa Family Trust for reissuing his recorded music legacy for those of us who still care.

Me encantó la película de pasajes de la vida del maestro Zappa, lo admiro por ser honesto con su manera de ver el negocio de la música que para él no era negocio, era disfrute y aprendizaje constante, nuevos sonidos, nuevas manera de interpretar la música, un genio incomprendido por muchos, muy buena

Je vais essayer sur l’ordinateur mais c’est décevant quoi qu’il en soit

訳が無いので詳しいニュアンスはわかりませンがザッパの半生を知ってる方はその生き方のすごさと、音楽家としてすべて自分の物は管理して、すべての人に公開する姿勢にびっくりするね。ライブ映像もスゴイ珍し物が有り良かった