Currently in limited theatrical release before landing on video-on-demand, Janis Ian: Breaking Silence is a wonderful introduction to an artist time may have forgotten, but certainly never should have. Janis Ian (who is still alive) shares the most intimate details of her life, growing up in a household that welcomed her musical inclinations, through becoming a magnet for social change as a teen simply because she recorded a song about interracial relationships at a time when it was wildly unpopular in some areas to do so. Still, Ian uses her musical influences, which rise out of the excellent professional musicians she is surrounded by to further her career,which certainly had its ups and downs.
The movie is full of performances from Ian over the years, and as someone who was not familiar with her before, I loved listening to the stories that created the artist, while also being able to appreciate the work she created.She talks about exploring her own sexuality with honesty, and is not afraid of referring to past abusive relationships she survived. Ian is so frank in her delivery that one of my main thoughts about a documentary centered around a living artist isn’t really a pestering problem. Usually, I believe an alive artist is able to control the narrative of a film about them much more than we probably give them credit. They can speak on what they want, and ignore stories they don’t want told. Every once in a while, an artist is so open, honest, and frank you can’t help but believe there isn’t anything else to tell. Other times, a documentary feels like a congratulatory self pat on the back for all the amazing things they brought to our world, with no or little indication of trouble or bums along the way.
I really did love this, and I often lean more toward activist documentaries, which take a lens on something we should be paying attention to and know nothing about. In a way, this is a little bit of that, because I did not know who Janis Ian was, and now I do. I think I’m better for it, and you will be too. The movie has no known audio description, but is cut like a talking head documentary with some occasional performance footage from Ian. Realistically, the amount of audio description added would be minimal. Accessibility is still important, but if you feel compelled to celebrate all that is Janis Ian, I think Breaking Silence is structured in a way that isn’t impossible to do so.
Fresh: Final Grade: A
