Janis: Little Girl Blue

Date: 14/06/2016 Times: 7:30 pm - 9:15 pm

For those of you who came to our showing of Amy, or have seen it at another venue, this could be seen as a companion piece, although in the wrong chronological order.  Here is another gifted female singer who succumbed to the rock lifestyle, at the age of 27.  This documentary is generally accepted to be the definitive work on Janis Joplin’s life that has waited too long to be made.

Janis Joplin is one of the most revered and iconic rock & roll singers of all time, a tragic and misunderstood figure who thrilled millions of listeners and blazed new creative trails before her death in 1970.  This in depth examination presents an intimate and insightful portrait of a complicated, driven, and often beleaguered artist. Joplin’s own words tell much of the film’s story through a series of letters she wrote to her parents over the years, many of them made public here for the first time.  Director Amy Berg also makes good use of her impressive access to Joplin’s friends, family and bandmates, along with archival performances to paint a more complete portrait of the singer than previously seen.

Joplin emerges as we’ve never seen her before, articulate, ambitious, torn between her wild self and her desperate need for stability.  She fought relentlessly to be herself, a rowdy and adventurous woman who literally belted out her rage, sorrow and happiness on a world stage while simultaneously asking the world to do what her classmates, parents and neighbors never could, love her for who she was.

Click below for reviews and more information.

Venue: William Loveless Hall