Nothing Compares

Originally premiered back at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Documentary Competition. As if writing now, I can't believe I missed this one when I attended the virtual festival back in January 2022.

Nothing Compares is directed by Kathryn Ferguson and it's a story about the five year period of singer and songwriter Sinead O'Connor and all the things happening to her around that time period. I had recently enjoyed some of her songs and her musical style. I really like her song Nothing Compares 2 U, Mandinka, and so on and so on. This documentary is really well informed and has really interesting editing choices. Ferguson includes voice overs from various people who knew O'Connor and O'Connor herself while presenting old footage and creative made up scenes to capture the tone of O'Connor's career, past life, and the controversial times she was in. It doesn't just focus on her music but it also explores about her past trauma with the Catholic church, her parents, politics, religion and many others aspects. Because of these topics, it really helped to sell this documentary to heart and becomes really touching.

Very informative and emotional at times. I knew about Sinead O'Connor before seeing this documentary and reading and listening about her experiences and troubles she was facing, I really do feel bad for her at times especially some of the more recent events that had happened to her. I was able to connect with this documentary very well and learned a lot more then I expected it. Surprisingly, there were some fault with the sound design as some moments felt they had a weird echoing effect in the back ground. Strangely, the main song "Nothing Compares 2 U" didn't appear in this documentary due to copyright issues I have to assume. Weird, but it felt missing.

Overall, a really well informed and at times depressing documentary about Sinead O'Connor.

Rating: A-

I remember Sinead O'Connor being a pretty big presence in the British music press of the early 90's. She would be hitting the front covers of the Melody Maker, Sounds and the NME on a regular basis. I did recall the fallout of her appearance on American telly where she ripped up a picture of the Pope and then thinking back to it now, she did seem to drop off the radar somewhat massively. This doc doesn't so much give us the biography of O'Connor from start to finish, it instead focuses her mid 80's rise in the music industry until her fall from the spotlight in 1992. There's little detail on her earliest years and pretty much nothing from the past 30 years. This isn't a bad thing necessarily, as it allows us to zoom in and look at the period where she made her most iconic music and made the biggest impact on the culture overall. There is a reminder of just how good her debut album The Lion and the Cobra is and there is unforgettable footage of her appearance at the Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary show where she was abused by large swathes of the audience for her Pope protest..somewhat ironic coming from those attending the celebration of one of the world's foremost protest singers. A lot of excellent footage has been unearthed to put this film together, which adds a lot, even if Prince's estate refused use of the song which gives the film its name - pleasingly, the film-makers address this in the end credits to explain this obvious elephant in the room. Overall, this is a very good music bio, as there is plenty of grit and drama to go along with some top tunes.

Being ahead of one's time can be a dual-edged sword. On the plus side, it can get you noticed. And, on the downside, it can get you noticed, but not necessarily in a positive light. Such was the experience of Irish pop star Sinead O'Connor, who exploded on the music scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The musical sensation became known for one of the most distinctive set of pipes in the business, with an ability to jump octaves in a single bound and to be able to go from a soft whisper to a banshee scream at the drop of a hat. But, as director Kathryn Ferguson's new Showtime documentary illustrates, O'Connor underwent a fall from grace that unfolded almost as quickly as her stratospheric rise, a change driven by a string of unpopular public protests against the Roman Catholic Church, American and Irish government policies, and cultural practices that ran afoul of her views about militarism, abortion rights and other hot button issues. She became a pariah, unable to get airplay for her new music and even facing death threats. Her gestures were seen as acts of career suicide, none of which fazed her, given that she couldn't in good conscience stay silent. But, as she faded into obscurity, her views gained ground, eventually leading to changes in line with those opinions. Indeed, she truly was ahead of her time, and this film examines that history in detail through archive footage, interviews with the artist and observations from those who knew her during her meteoric rise, her subsequent fall and her resurgence as both a performer and social activist. And, as the film capably shows, in the end, nothing truly compares to her.

As someone who grew up as a teenager in Ireland during the time period that is the focus of this film, even 15 year old me had a hint of awareness that SOC was possibly the victim of a society, that just wasn't ready or willing to face up to the reality of the issues she shone a light on, both in our own country and further afield.

What this film does is show the world that the things she did weren't some random acts of self-sabotage, or even worse, publicity stunts to prop up her career. She used the global platform she had to speak up for those who could not be heard, to give them a voice when nobody was listening. She didn't do this at the expense of her career as she was so publicly derided for, this was exactly what she was put on this planet to do. Music and art were the platforms that enabled her do it and she did it in the most dramatic fashion imaginable.

The problem for Sinead was that she was so far ahead of her time, living in a time when thou dare not speak truth to power, in a world where social media platforms and hashtag movements didn't exist. If there was anybody in her corner, we simply didn't know about it at the time as they too had no voice. The world's media simply constructed the version of Sinead they wanted us to see.

It's a beautifully immersive film that in time I think will really vindicate a genuine social justice warrior in the court of public opinion.

And about time too.

She deserves it.

I first heard Sinead here in NY on WLIR-FM in 1987 with the release of her first album, "The Lion on and the Cobra." She was also played on college radio and it wasn't until the Prince song, "Nothing Compares to You" that she became a rock star. The film shows the incident when she would not allow the National Anthem to be played before a concert and its repercussions. Later, while appearing on SNL, she tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II and, excuse me, all hell broke loose. As a struggling Catholic, I was not offended by the gesture and history has proven her to be accurate after the many molestation cases came to light with the cover ups by the Vatican. I only wished for more and longer segments of her music. Her voice is magical and this film a gritty and honest portrayal of her life.