Love to Love You, Donna Summer

An intimate documentary about the life and career of the 'Queen of Disco', Donna Summer. Co-Directed by Summer's daughter Brooklyn Sudano (with Roger Ross Williams), the movie takes a very personal viewpoint on the singer's career.

There is no formal narration, but, fortunately, Summer left behind a very large collection of personal recordings (she was an early adopter of home video cameras) and writings. As a superstar, her career was also well-documented which only added to the family's wealth of archive of material. There are no 'talking heads' per se; instead, the 'narration' is largely formed from those recordings.

It's a fairly nontraditional form for those expecting a more straightforward 'Behind The Music' biographical doc, but, it mostly works. It progresses more or less chronologically - save for an oddly placed segment that flash-forwards to the recording and release of 'Bad Girls'. The most interesting aspect to casual fans is the portion given over to her pre-disco career where she went from leaving her family in Massachusetts to doing the play 'Hair' to going to Europe to start her professional singing career. Once 'Love to Love You, Baby' came out, her image as a sexed up disco diva was set. It certainly jump-started her success, but, the doc shows that it came at a personal price both in her private relationships, and her mental and physical health.

The disco label made it difficult for Summer to transition to non-dance oriented music, and like the Bee Gees, it hurt her on a commercial level, as well (she only had one Top 10 single after 1982). Even at the height of her fame she tried to break out beyond the image, but it was too strong to many. She continued to record up until a few years before her passing.

LOVE TO LOVE YOU, DONNA SUMMER is very an authorized biography with all three of Summer's daughters and her widower, musician Bruce Sudano, all appearing and relating their memories. Still, there are some quite dark truths and observations revealed. It not sanitized.

I've been looking forward to seeing this since I first saw the trailer a month ago, and in almost all ways it met my expectations. Donna Summer was the first artist whose music I loved not only because it appealed to me, but because I was intrigued by the person. I started really getting into music at the same time disco and Donna hit it big in 1977-78, she was seemingly always on the radio, and for the next few years I devoured every album she released.

Love to Love You, Donna Summer is a pretty standard (not a bad thing at all) music documentary that definitely benefits from the co-director (Brooklyn Sudano, Donna's daughter)'s trove of home movies, album demos, and photos that really enable the viewer to see the many different sides of Donna. Interviews with her other two daughters and husband, in addition to some of Donna's partners musically and personally, offer additional insight into her too-short life.

The only thing I felt missing was a bit more of an in depth look at her music through the 80's and into the 21st century, but that's just the opinion of the music nerd in me. Ultimately, the doc is a long overdue examination (and love letter of sorts) of an incredibly influential, talented and popular musical force of nature.

I watched this documentary for the purpose of seeing a glimpse of Donna Summer's off-stage private life. I would have been age 9 when Love to Love You, the song, was released worldwide. As a young person growing up in the 70s and 80s I did not follow the lives of entertainers and still do not as a woman in her mid-50s, so learning about Donna's life peaked my interest because I have an appreciation for her as a performance artist.

Giving the fact that I knew nothing about Ms. Summer's personal life, I can say I did learn some things. Unlike some others who have written reviews, I did not mind all the home footage. Her personal life off stage is why I was drawn to watch the documentary.

What I do have an issue with is the absolutely poor audio/sound mixing. There are segments where a caption will appear that states, "Voice of... (a person's name and their relationship to Donna)," but then nothing is heard. Early on in the film when this first happened, I turned the volume up to a really high level and barely heard the person speaking. This happens throughout the film. I subsequently stopped turning up the volume to hear because then the following audio would come in blasting. There are also instances where the narrator/daughter asks someone a question, but then their answer is not heard. Did no one view the film for possible issues before it was released on HBO Max?

This purports to be the story of Donna Summer, but it is, sadly, just a mishmash of moments, thrown together.

The voiceovers are done by Donna Summer's husband, her children and a few others. I wish it had been an actual "story," but instead it simply flows aimlessly, with no real structure to it. I kept hoping for the documentary to congeal into an objective narrative, delving into the highs and lows of her life, but it never happened.

For those who are too young to have known Donna Summer, this might be entertaining, but for others, it will be bewildering, as, at almost no point is Donna Summer ever really contributing what was actually happening, and of course, since it was made after her death, that is reasonable. However, any filmmaker knows that a story must be told, and here, it just misses the mark, no matter how well-intentioned it is. I recognize though, that her daughter felt the need to make this. I just wish it shed light on the "real" Donna Summer.

A wandering documentary, not developed enough to be seen as any kind of coherent biography that could give a thoughtful person real insight into the life of Donna Summer.

As "Love to Love You, Donna Summer" (2023 release; 107 min) opens, Donna Summer performs that breakthrough song (some might say, her signature song), as she dances along. We then hear from Donna herself: "I have a secret life: what you see is not who I am". We then go back in time, as young (8 yo) Donna is asked to sing gospel songs at church. At this point we are 10 minutes into the movie.

Couple of comments: this documentary is co-directed by Brooklyn Sudano (Donna's daughter) and Oscar-winning (for "Music by Prudence") Roger Ross Williams. The result is a carefully crafted assessment of Donna Summer the musician and the person. The film makers do not step aside to address avoid some touchy issues. The lovie includes never-before-seen home footage (it helps that Donna, a wanna-be film maker, has a camera with her on those long tours). When asked what she thinks about being called the "Queen of Disco", Donna responds "but that is not all of who I am". This documentary makes that very clear.

"Love to Love You, Donna Summer" premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in early 2023, to immediate positive acclaim. The movie is currently rated 83% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. For whatever reason I had missed this documentary, until Max (where this is now streaming) suggested it to me based on my viewing habits. If you are a fan of Donna Summer or of the disco era, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.