Gaga: Five Foot Two

9/23/17. This is the way to do a music biopic! Non-fawning, warts and all look at one of the biggest stars of today. Beneath all the glitter, meat dress included, she is a down-home NYC girl. She has her moments and she has her pain, but so far she has managed to balance her life, expressing herself in her music and outrageous fashion statements. She does appear to have some mental health issues that hopefully will not overwhelm her. As for her feud with Madonna? Lady Gaga is by far the better person and much more talented than Madonna. (Like she actually plays instruments!) Madonna thrived on shock value. While Madonna was a good concert performer, as a person she was condescending, petty and overbearing. Just watch Truth and Dare. Keep in mind that most artists start off imitating their heroes as homage than intentionally ripping off the works of people they admire. This is what Madonna accused Lady Gaga of doing. Well, Gaga has found her voice early on and it's a beautiful one.

I knew unbelievably little about Lady Gaga before seeing this documentary.

I knew that she wears elaborate costumes that sometimes make her look equal parts regal and ridiculous and that she has a gorgeous singing voice. I did not even know that she is an American (from New York City) and an earthy person in her private life. The first scene in this movie shows her as she looks when she gets out of bed and feeds her dogs. She is more how I would have imagined that her personal assistant might look.

Basically, a camera crew follows her around for possibly longer than we know. It is a good thing not to feel as if we are with her in real time because this doc may have followed her for many months.

The word exhibitionist might be a bit strong, but little of Gaga's anatomy is left to the viewer's imagination. We also meet the inner Lady Gaga (nee Stefani Germanotta) learning that she is affectionate with her friends, generous with her fans, and lonely at the end of every day. She is often insecure and is perhaps something of a snowflake. Her combination of provocativeness yet wariness about men is not explained, but is presented as is.

Gaga is conscious that she has turned thirty. The fact that her latest boyfriend has not worked out is only part of her misery. We learn that Gaga has an old pain in her hip that contributes to her worries. Keeping up with her backup dancers requires frequent sessions with physical therapists. She would like to have children, but she anticipates that her hip could make that prohibitively painful.

In one scene, her mother (?) suggests that she not be maudlin. It is a suggestion made in kindness, but might profitably be taken in a firmer sense. The heart of the movie – if there is a plot to this slice of life – is that Gaga is putting together an album (ultimately a successful one) dedicated to her aunt Joanne who died at age 19. This is not difficult to understand. Joanne was a promising writer and artist. Gaga clearly identifies with her almost as if she herself had died at a younger age. (Joanne is one of Gaga's middle names, I have since learned.)

For technical reasons, we do not get to see much of her concerts. This is not a filmed concert. We get to hear her sing, but not enough. The movie cuts away at the beginning of huge concerts. It is a little like being left on the launch pad at the end of "The Right Stuff," just as Gordo Cooper is about to take off on one of the most exciting and harrowing flights of the entire Mercury Space Program, but we don't get to see it.

Therein lies the problem that most viewers might have. If you want to see the diva, warts and all, then this is the documentary for you, but if you want to see her in action – or more importantly hear her – then you should hold out for one of her concert films.

So here's the deal. I haven't ever really been a huge Lady Gaga fan. I grew up listening to her music but I never really felt like she was ever in it for anything but shock value. I just never really understood the appeal .... until I watched a star is born. That movie was one of, if not my favorite movies of the year and I very much enjoyed Gaga's role in it and her acting abilities. The only problem was : now I wanted to like lady Gaga but I felt like she was exactly who her character ended up being in the end of a star is born and I wanted the down to earth woman from the beginning.

I watched Gaga: five foot two after the shallow Oscar performance because I wanted to see who Gaga really is and I feel like this movie really does that. It was very cool to see her at that point in her life emotionally and physically dealing with a lot. It takes place when she performed at the super bowl halftime show and shows her signing off to star in a star is born. She struggles with so much in this movie but she also has some break throughs, amazing performances, and people who pick her up when she's down.

Overall I felt like she gave a raw and real look into her life and I finally feel like I'm beginning to like Lady Gaga. Not for the pop star version of what she's expected to be like but for the actual person she is.

Lady Gaga is quite simply known everywhere. From the tiniest of countries to the most desolate of wastelands. She has made a name for herself through her unconventional provocative work and visual experimentation. But more importantly, she is a talented musician who (despite us all forgetting) is actually still a human being. This documentary chronicles the conception of her fifth album 'Joanne', a devoted production delving into the death of Gaga's aunt. Pressure was an understatement for the singer. Deterring away from the memorably eccentric albums that were predominantly dance-pop, to a stripped back vocally charged album that reminded us all how talented of a musician she really is. Powering this production though, is a sense of emotional distress. Tackling themes of family, love and life, this lesser documentary acts as a small window peering into a large life. Is this part-biopic entirely necessary? Not at all. With a lack of genuine emotional heft and/or an inevitable tragedy, it does negate its very purpose. However, it's still not without sentimentality. Moukarbel's focus on the struggles and immense pressure of an album release is prevalent, particularly Gaga's chronic pain caused by fibromyalgia. You feel every inch of her personality burst through the screen as she balances music with acting and other performances. The style to the documentary was ever so haphazard to begin with, lacking coherence and structure. Not to mention the lack of performance footage, I wanted to see that Superbowl performance! But picks things up when Gaga works on 'Joanne'. Showcasing her meltdowns and fan interactions only emphasises her humanity. Her formidable exterior that the media present is torn down by this intimate film, where her compassion is enhanced gently. Radiating benevolence and decency, a whole new side to Gaga is explored and presented captivatingly which both fans and casual audiences will enjoy. Although, I've heard she's actually five foot one...

It's like she's a 70 year old career woman in a 30 year old body with the humility of a 20 year old. Confusing, I know.

I would have liked to seen the aftermath of her super bowl performance. I think the film really missed an opportunity there, unless Gaga didn't sign off on it. Does she maintain her "I don't give a f*** about what people think of me." mentality?

At the end of this film you will come to see how lonely she is and not okay with herself. I actually drew inspiration from that fact alone.

She's meticulous, she's usually in pain, she DOES care for her craft and has passion. If she didn't have fans and people to perform for she would likely shrivel up.

This film showed me that performing really is her calling card and she's going to have to be comfortable with being lonely at the end of the day---for a while. I have a different kind of respect for Gaga but I haven't quite figured out what that may be.