Goodbye Horses: Las muchas vidas de Q Lazzarus

Goodbye Horses is a must watch for deep music heads and fans of documentaries on underground and "outsider" arts. Eva Aridjis Fuentes did a fantastic job of capturing Q (Diane Luckey) and her work. Q was a fascinating singer / songwriter who combined hard rock, soul, and new wave in her songs and focused it all through her powerful, sublime voice (think Tina Turner on the Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome soundtrack.) The film follows Diane / Q from her youthful explosion of musical creativity through a series of heartbreaking tribulations and "almost" moments. An equally beautiful and painful paean to dreams and survival.

Making a documentary about a woman so mysterious is no easy feat. Diane Luckey, better known as Q Lazzarus, disappeared from the public eye for over 25 years. She gained fans all over the world that she didn't know about. Fans she would never meet. Fans who would not know her presence at all. Conveying anyone's personality can be tricky, but I feel like Eva did it wonderfully. In this documentary, you can pick up on Diane's humor. You can pick up on her passion. You can pick up on her strength. Hell, you can even pick up on her parenting style at one point in the movie! The way this was edited is phenomenal, and once again, editing this was no easy task. Eva has said that (and I'm just paraphrasing here) she felt like she had 2 completely different films. One about a rock star and one about a woman's struggle (especially with substance abuse). That being said, I think Eva was able to make this one coherent story. I applaud Eva for all the hard work and dedication she needed take on the difficult task of speaking for a woman who can no longer speak for herself. We miss you, Q.

So what did I think of this film I was so excited to see? I adored it. I still have questions about Q, that may or may never be answered, but I think that's okay! I have never cried so hard at a movie like I did with this documentary. The world can feel so incredibly cruel sometimes.

Diane, you deserved better. I hope you're feeling all this love and success that's coming from this documentary. I hope more people are able to hear, learn from, and maybe even resonate with your story.

The reason we love films is that, sometimes, they provide us with a reminder that there is magic, still, in the world.

Such is the case with Goodbye Horses: The Many Lives of Q Lazzarus - A remarkable - even miraculous - piece of documentary work by director Eva Aridjis-Fuentes who just happened to be the only person who could have made this film at the particular time it came to be.

This is a stunning, accessible, portrait of an artist as well as a commentary on our society. Heartbreaking, haunting, and, ultimately, uplifting, it's everything you could want from any film and the fact that it's true to life makes it even more important. Watch it at your emotional peril because it is devastating in the end. Bravo!

I went to see this film with my husband and we were both devastated but also utterly entranced. We feel nothing but admiration and awe for this incredible feat of resurrection of a forgotten artist who deserves enormous recognition. Q Lazzarus was an extraordinary woman and Aridjis-Fuentes tells her story with great elegance and respect. Apart from being a compelling portrait of an artist and of a woman with a personality and presence larger than anything you could ever imagine, it is a complex and layered portrait, not always favorable, of American society. May Q's story and transcendent voice become a part of our lives, may she forever be an inspiration.

This really is one of the best documentaries I've seen in a long time. Superbly handled with care and grace by the director (Eva Aridjis-Fuentes), it depicts the life - and what a life at that - of an amazingly talented - and impossible to pigeon-hole - woman, 'Q Lazzarus', who was subject to a crazy combination of cosmic fate mixed with misfortune. I found myself shaking my head at the absurdity of it all. The director allows Q to tell, and show, her story, explaining struggles with the music industry. Essentially a symptom of wider societal obstacles that black women faced (and still face) resulting in a kind of stolen destiny. There are heart warming moments amongst the bleakness. Simple human things like seeing the happy faces as she reconnects with her old drummer, or when the church sisters see her for the first time in years. Her loving husband too. I don't want to accidentally add any spoilers so I'll stop here. The director has absolutely gifted us with this film, giving the artist her chance to shine at last. I'm now going to go listen to her music, it's the least I can do.