When you finish watching Guy Guido´s intense and deeply emotional movie, you simply can´t stop thinking about it. Because everybody has so many larger-than-life images of Madonna inside their heads....we never could have imagined she went through ALL THAT to reach the fame she has today.
Actually, more than that, the movie works on several levels:
- It humanizes Madonna. As mentioned, we all think of her - even thinking about her first record, perfomances and videos - already as a sucess, a hit-maker, a provocative perfomer, an inspiration. It´s like she was always there, wrapped with a ribbon, ready to be discovered. The movie shows Madonna as a normal girl, a young girl, trying to make ends meet, struggling and facing fear, doubt, insecurities and even unimaginable factors - like New York City´s 2 degrees cold weather, when she could not afford a room with heating. You cannot help but look at the Madonna you know differently, in a whole new light.
- It shows how destiny operates - and this reasonates with everybody, all over the world, her fan or not. Who, not being a part of her family, inspired her to believe in herself, which led to leaving Michigan for NYC. How, because of a random meet on the street, she ended up going to that party where she met Dan Gilroy, who changed her life. How and why she started singing. Why she kept going and didn´t give up. How somebody from her past - Bray - could come and help her at a turning point in her life. How she got that first contract with Sire Records. Was it all coincidence combined with hard work, being at the right place at the right time? Or fortune smiling at her? Or was the Madonna we know and love today, that changed the world and people´s lives in every corner of it so much so many times with her art, "meant to be" ? You can watch the movie from this perspective and it blow your mind as well.
- It gives voice to many who could never properly - and at lenght - talk about her and their past together. It´s cathartic in a way, for them and for us watching. Though Dan Gilroy may be considered the "main character" - besides Madonna herself, of course - the testimonials that marked me deeply were the ones from Gary Burke. He was, let´s say, a little late to the party, but was with her through thick and thin and was with her on her very first big break. He confessed on camera a strong betrayal of his own and also a huge disappointment he had with Madonna - no spoilers here, but the movie does not shy away from difficult issues like this one, which is another positive thing.
- The movie has so much strenght in the presence of Jamie Auld as Madonna, the resemblance that was already very much discussed, especially the eyes - that are the windows of the soul, the focal point, where all the magic happens....But also her performance: you can clearly see Madonna´s way of walking, Madonna´s way of talking, Madonna´s sex appeal, Madonna´s energy and determination. You don´t see Jamie, you see Madonna.
- And, of course, Guy Guido´s writing and directing, filled with his PASSION and admiration for Madonna, that shows in every frame. This is a labor of love, like he wanted to give back to her a little of what she gave to him throughout the years. It´s a homage but at the same time a huge public declaration, in capital letters: I LOVE YOU - and THANK YOU for being here and changing my life, saving my life....our lives.
Nothing can beat a film made with this kind of commitment, people.
Thank you for your work of art, Guy. It will stay with me forever and I´m sure with millions around the world as well.
All the best and much love to you, all the way from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
