American Symphony

2022 was the best of times, the worst of times for Jon Batiste and Suleika Janouad.

Both. Everywhere. All at once. In every moment.

It was the year the couple married. It was the year Jon left his high-profile gig leading the band on The Late Show with Steven Colbert. He would go on to win five Grammys, including the coveted Album of the Year, which hadn't been won by a Black artist in more than a decade.

Although Suleika's bestselling "Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted" would be acclaimed as one of the best books of the 2022, she would spend most of the year in hospital beds, receiving chemotherapy, a bone marrow transplant and other treatments for the recurrence of acute myeloid leukemia, a rare condition that had first stricken her a decade earlier.

On September 22 of that year, Jon Batiste premiered his "American Symphony" in Carnegie Hall. His wife was in the audience.

These events provide the framework for Matthew Heineman's powerfully affecting documentary that shares the title of Batiste's musical creation. Its Higher Ground production company was created by Michelle Obama and her husband in 2018 with the goal of lifting diverse voices in the entertainment industry. It's playing on Netflix.

It feels meant to be, writing about "American Symphony" after recent blogs reviewing "Maestro" and "American Fiction." They have a lot in common. Like "Maestro," it presents a loving marriage of creative giants, the husband fulfilling his artistic genius, the wife beset by setbacks and pain beyond belief.

Like "American Fiction," it focuses on a brilliant Black artist staking his creative claim in a society built on a foundation of the enslavement of his race. (The similarity of the films' titles is unfortunate, confusing and diluting each's powerful impact during this awards season.) Except, unlike the other two films, "American Symphony" doesn't have actors. It has the actual people. They're not acting, they're living their lives.

Filmmaker Heineman is the third member of their marriage, capturing an intimacy that rarely makes its way to the screen. He's there with them in their bedroom or her hospital bed, as they grapple with everything coming their way. In one light-hearted interlude, Suleika takes Jon to the snow. He has never sledded before. We ride down the hill with them, lost for a moment in giddy, silly escape.

But not for long.

Pain, isolation and discomfort are givens in Suleika's illness. What's not expected is the resilience, philosophical strength and occasional bursts of humor she finds to face them. In her bed she starts painting giraffes. They quite good, actually.

By her side supporting her, Jon is also up against a different set of challenges. Scion of a New Orleans musical dynasty, his gifts transported him to Juilliard en route to a rarified place in the musical hierarchy where fame itself may become his greatest danger.

Heineman - and his three co-cinematographers - transport us into his brain, recording telephone sessions with Jon's therapist flowing into voice-over commentary that unflinchingly probes his artistic process, and the insecurities besetting artists no matter how much acclaim they achieve.

The documentary was filmed in the time of Covid, but finds endless expressiveness in its characters' eyes. When they remove their masks, their faces are visually striking element in the film's grand design. Jon's smile is sunshine; his dance moves are joy itself.

The creation of Batiste's symphony provides a plot of sorts, as he mines deep ore in all the cultures that have produced "America," beginning with the Indigenous people who were here when the Whites arrived, bringing the Blacks in chains a short time later. He melds their sounds into a musical masterwork that defies labels - classical, jazz, roots, blues, bebop, hip-hop and a hundred others - because it's them all.

But the film's real symphony isn't just the music. It's the two people/ at the center of the story, bravely leading us on this wondrous journey into their souls.

This film was our pick for a recent Sunday matinee and was a good choice for a sunny afternoon with bad air quality. It was a documentary about the super-talented Jon Batiste and his creation of a symphony to be performed at Carnegie Hall. But it was also about the unexpected recurrence of his partner's (and now wife's) cancer from a decade ago. I love movies about the artistic process and how artists and musicians create their work, and this didn't disappoint in any regard. Batiste is a joyful, uplifting person no matter what they're going through and the love and compassion they have for each other is truly inspiring.

This is from the Obamas' production company, Higher Ground, and you can see their spirit if not their hand in the finished product. We weren't sure if we were going to enjoy this as we thought it would be sad, but it was ultimately beautiful, touching, and insightful. It's a bummer it didn't get a Best Documentary Oscar nom but I definitely recommend it, playing on Netflix.

I have thoughts in response to the one review claiming it felt too staged / too amateur with camera angles that were out of focus or too close up, and the message didn't focus enough on ONE issue... but then the reviewer spoke on the few scenes that stuck out and made them feel deeply and we're beautifully filmed.

Isn't that life?

Isn't film... art?

Art is supposed to be open to interpretation, and make you feel something personal to YOU, and not to lead you to extract something specific. The artist is simply expressing and hoping to evoke some type of feeling in you, but most painters/drawers/sculptors will never tell you what their art "means." They'll ask, "what do you think it means? What does it speak to you?" I think the way it was filmed though, is intentionally a representation of life. The director wasn't going for "professional," clean, consistent, etc. It's apparent he was demonstrating the very thing Sulaika profoundly stated - "I feel like we're living a life of contrasts." And THAT, to me, was THE main message of the movie. No, not just their relationship, cancer being so hard, him breaking molds and records as a Black artist, or that he's a "broken" man (which... If that's what you considered broken, you must be living under a rock lol). He's a man who feels deeply but his brain sometimes gets anxious when he isn't staying present in his body, in his soul, in his inner knowing that everything is always changing. "God gives and takes away", he said in one scene. Coming to grips with that, and practicing non-attachment, is key. Especially considering the immense amount of pressure he was under, his anxieties are normal and real. This is the human condition. His wife is also a woman who feels deeply, and is very intentional about not wanting to NOT feel every ounce of the highs and lows of life that make it the HUMAN experience. (notice Jon's band is named "Stay Human"?)

This film reminded me of my deep love and connection with music, HOW it saved me at many points in life, and how and why cultures and traditions across the globe find peace, strength and joy in it and through it. Resilience, hope, and relief.

And how sometimes in the most intimate, honest moments of expression, there just aren't words to suffice. Silence spoke so loudly in this film and that touched me deeply.

Lastly, i want to speak on how this reviewer called Jon pretentious. I wonder how Jon's jubilant, confident, cool demeanor would be received if he weren't a Black man from New Orleans. Sure, he knows he's a genius. Good for him! And he also gives honor and credit to God/Source and the people who have shaped him. Why is it a bad thing that a little Black boy grew up with the acute awareness of just how excellent and magical he is? Is he not kind? Generous, encouraging? Loving? What is it about the way that he carries himself that is negative? He is a young King that honors his queen and loves people deeply. (We can all think of another intelligent, cool, confident, witty Black male who has been in the spotlight since 2008 who also was called "pretentious." smh.) I don't imagine the reviewer shared the same skin tone as Jon. But if so, there's an internalization of a mindset that's caused them to play small their whole lives that they're projecting outwardly. And if not, I think the subconscious concern is more about how dangerous it is when people of Color, especially Black folks, know just HOW brilliant they are, and ACT on it with full faith and confidence. It shifts the frequency of the entire globe, and that shifts power. And people who have historically held all of it, don't want that change. But like Jon said in the beginning of the movie, (summarizing here:) we're all a part of something happening in and around us, an unfolding. A shift. Whether we want to see and acknowledge it or not.

American Symphony is an incredibly personal documentary that strikes a very strong balance between its portrayal of the artistic process and a beautiful relationship. It may be conventional but when it's so well crafted and its story is so emotionally resonant it's near impossible not to be moved or affected by any of this.

Jon Batiste is very open here, showing so much in what feels like a very real look at his life and struggles. A magnetic presence when on the stage yet so humbling and relatable in everyday life. It's so interesting to watch his ideas forming in real time whilst his relationship with Suleika Jaouad gives the film its strongest moments.

Matthew Heineman's direction manages to be very cinematic in its construction whilst still being able to maintain a consistent sense of intimacy. The structure of the film is really good too, building to the titular symphony in classic biopic fashion which gives it so much weight. Batiste's music and closing song really compliments everything and further foregrounds his undeniable talent.

Suleika and Jon are each incredible, multi-talented artists and we see that in this film. But beyond their talents, we see the incredible people they are and the incredible love that they share with each other and with the world all while going through tough challenges with her health.

I cried throughout this movie. It's been a while since a show... and these two beautiful people...moved me like this.

Thank you for sharing this, for being who you are, and for showing us what's possible when you open your heart and allow yourself to be vulnerable. I will watch this again and I urge others to watch it.