The Cream Will Rise

True and honest, this documentary follows Sophie B. Hawkins on the road and we are surprised (even Sophie) by what we learn about her past. We see how she deals as she learns about the past that she's learned to mask and cover up. Very powerful. You don't have to be a fan of her music to enjoy the film. The films starts out as a documentary about being on the road and ends up being a journal of her deepest and most intimate thoughts on the revelation of her torrid past. Some highlights are her views on record companies, her argument with the director about the documentary and her reconciliation with her friend over the phone. A definite must see!

I caught this movie on the Sundance Channel while channel surfing. I missed the 1st ten minutes but I didn't care... I was glued to it until the very end. I was amazed at how talented she is, since I have only heard her 2 hit songs on the radio and they never really did much for me. But now I feel I know her a little better - she is a free spirit, very zany at times, GREAT BOD, writes most of her material, and like all of us she has her share of skeletons in her closet. I can't figure out her sexuality and I would really like to know what her story is (I have an idea) but I guess the PC thing would be to say that "it's nobody's business but her own" blah, blah, blah - a la Jodie Foster. Still, it is a very intriguing side of her. She is a likable enigma. And Gigi Gaston did a terrific job in her first documentary outing. Well worth seeing.

In an effort to get to the essence of singer/songwriter Sophie B. Hawkins, documentarian Gigi Gaston follows her on tour in support of the "Tongues and Tails" album. Approaching stardom with the hit song "(Damn)I Wish I Was Your Lover," Hawkins talks and talks... and talks. Her insights about what she writes and how she sees celebrity are surface-level, rock-star babble. She's definitely an unique personality, but the film spends SO much time with her, the mystery and the sensuality that comes through in her music and lyrics are deflated by the person behind it. The backstage scenes of the tour focus solely on Sophie, with no interviews of her band or the fans. This may be the point of the docu, to only deal with Sophie BY Sophie, but it makes for a dragging, repetitious film. The director, Gigi Gaston, is a skilled filmmaker, using various film stock, cameras and sound equipment -- but the final result is an endless assault of quick-editing and a flurry of moving images that just serve to detract from the music and the message. I went in liking Sophie's music and individual spirit, I came out bored and, frankly, sick of hearing her self-important ramblings.

I saw this at a festival in Amsterdam, a documentary festival. It starts as a 'normal' rockumentary, a tour diary, jamsessions, studio work, talks with friends. Everything changes when we (the audience) get to see Sophie's family. There are quiet a few skeletons in the Hawkins' closet. Sophie hears more from her mom then she knows about her own childlife, things she blocked and when she (re)discovers them, she has to cope with them. very honestly the movie continues, showing Sophie from her bravest side, and she is up there with the bravest!!!!!