A letto con Madonna

Between 1987 and 1993, Madonna underwent the most controversial period of her life. This documentary highlights one of the most notorious events right in the midst of that period of controversy: her 1990 "Blond Ambition" tour, which spanned four months and took place in Japan, North America, and Europe. The tour was way ahead of its time, featuring innovative music, tour-de-force dance moves, magnificent sets, and dazzling costumes designed by French fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier. It turned out to be arguably the best concert ever (certainly Madonna's best concert to date). At the same time, the tour was considered blasphemous for involving the use of religious images and symbols, and it was called racy because of simulated sexual acts that were performed on stage.

What's noteworthy about this documentary is that it shows a behind-the-scenes look at, not just the tour, but also Madonna's life during the tour's run. On stage (and backstage) she's a hard and demanding diva. Yet, this film enables viewers to see another side of Madonna, who according to Warren Beatty, doesn't want to live off-camera. You get to see Madonna surrounded by different people: her entourage, her family, and other celebrities...but you also get to see her all by herself in some scenes. In one scene you hear someone compare Madonna to a little girl lost in a storm. One can only wonder if Madonna, who although is the biggest star in the world, could be the loneliest person in the world. I saw this documentary when it played in theaters, back in 1991, and it was great to see it on the big screen. I especially enjoyed seeing the scenes of the actual concert. I now own this film on DVD. This documentary was definitely the perfect medium with which to immortalize the then-controversial, pre-motherhood Madonna at the height of her career.

Nothing surprising is revealed in this documentary. Perhaps ten years ago, when the film came out, it stunned many fans and non-fans. But Madonna has remained in the spotlight ever since, and thanks to magazines, interviews, MTV, VH-1, not to mention her music, video, book and film work since 1991, we've seen most of the stuff in this documentary already. Plus, Madonna shows us only what she wants us to see. There are a few moments when the camera suddenly shuts off, like when she confesses that Sean Penn was the love of her life. She also talks about her huge crush on Antonio Banderas, and when he snubs her, she jokingly admits that she will never work with him (obviously she was kidding because she worked with him in Evita). When she's playful and in good spirits, she's fun to watch. But in the end, this is really a vanity project, instead of the completely "naked" documentary it was supposed to be. That probably suits her diehard fans just fine, but regular viewers are hoping to see more than her "attitude" backstage, long footage of her explicit onstage material, constant vulgarity, and high-maintenance daily rituals.

As a documentary, this movie is excellent. It takes us behind the scenes of one of the most successful and most elaborate music tours produced in recent times. We take a peek at Madonna's private life including her likes and dislikes, her friends, her hectic schedule, and her incredible ambition of staying at the top. But most importantly, we take a close look at how she influences everyone around her. Madonna fans, especially those that attended the Blond Ambition Tour, will really enjoy Truth or Dare.

It's 1990 on Madonna's Blond Ambition Tour. She, her circle of dancers, and performers travel from Japan to North America and all around the world. It has behind-the-scenes as well as her concert performances. There are her friends and family. Her brother is hanging around and she goes to her mother's grave. In Toronto, the cops threaten to charge her for indecency. It's mostly filmed in black and white. The thing about Madonna is one is never sure about when the performance starts and ends. I doubt she's completely faking anything but she can be overly dramatic. When cops show up in Toronto, they do imply a threat but one can see a glint in her eyes where she sees an opportunity to rally around the first amendment. There is the dancer faux boyfriend and a girl claiming rape. One can never be sure about anything with Madonna.

I don't know sh*t about Madonna. I know that the media has a fixation on her aging (how dare she have a wrinkle at 57-years-old?), that she almost died at this year's Brit Awards while performing "Living for Love", that she sliced censors in half during her controversial 1994 interview with David Letterman, that Robert Christgau thinks she's a pop genius, that the gays love her, that she's, all right, clinging to her youth. But still, I hardly know anything about Madonna. Maybe I could barely sing the chorus to "Holiday", but that's all. I'd recognize her if she were to walk down my street. I saw her in "Dick Tracy" once. She was pretty good in that.

I suppose I was expecting "Truth or Dare" to have a sort of "Vogue" tinged romanticism, painting Madonna as a pop figure still untouchable, like how "Ready to Wear" made the fashion world funny, nowhere near realistic, but was all the better for it. For all the cultural bullshit that misunderstands her, "Truth or Dare" dares you to hate and love the pop superstar at the same time, wanting you to scoff at her need to be the STAR of every moment, wanting you to appreciate her relentless work ethic, her need to be an entertainer at the top of their game. And like all good documentaries (and why this one is so damn good), the film is riveting for everyone, outsiders and insiders alike. I wasn't a Madonna fan before the documentary nor will I be afterward, but as a rock documentary, "Truth or Dare" stands as one of the finest.

Recording the entirety of her 1990 Blond Ambition tour, the film is essentially an inside-look into what a day, a night, a week, a month, a year, looks like for Madonna. (Or maybe it just seems that way: a master of camera manipulation, she may just as well be putting on a show.) Photographed in grainy black-and-white, save for the colored (and obligatory) stage performances, "Truth or Dare" is more warty than glamorized, emphasizing her vulnerabilities, need to be the center of attention, and her wicked sense of humor (she seems to laugh more when people are having a hard time than when everyone is having a ball).

I couldn't care less about the complicated choreographic sets that circle around renditions of "Like a Virgin", "Express Yourself", "Holiday", among others; what makes "Truth or Dare" engaging is its frank candidness. Behind the scenes, Madonna notices that the majority of her young dancers are insecure and need mothering; strange, she remarks, how she likes to be a matriarch, to give her stage family someone to confide in. We catch glimpses of her short relationship with "Dick Tracy" co-star Warren Beatty, who scoffs at the fact that real-life doesn't seem to matter to her unless it is captured on camera. Cameos abound, featuring pop-ups from Pedro Almodóvar, Kevin Costner, Antonio Banderas, and Al Pacino. But there are three truly great scenes in the film, where Madonna doesn't seem to be putting on a show, where she doesn't seem to be trying to make herself look a certain way for the cameras.

Best is her reaction to Kevin Costner, who comes backstage for one show and describes the production as neat; disgusted, she gags, remarking "Anybody who says my show is 'neat' has to go." Later, an old friend (pre-fame old) meets Madonna in the hallway of her hotel, asking her to be the godmother to her soon-to-be born child. Though it is clear that the women were close back in the day, Madonna blows her off; she doesn't want to be a mother any time soon, and she doesn't have time to waste time with non-celebrities from the past. And in one of the closing scenes, she infamously models what a blow job from Madonna would look like on a glass bottle. Minutes later, she describes her true love as Sean Penn, heartbroken, regretful.

Fakery of course comes around — the scene where she visits her mother's grave doesn't feel all too sincere, rather the documentarian's hope to make appear feel bare- bones hopeless — but "Truth or Dare", ultimately, is a winning documentary that makes the once chart-dominating pop-star more fascinating, and timeless, than ever.