I searched out Karen Dalton while reading Bob Dylan's autobiography, and his comment that she could sing like Billie Holiday and play guitar like Jimmy Reed. I became obsessed with this voice that sounded as if it could crack and fall apart from pain in one moment, and then soar the next.
But try finding video of Dalton.
Thankfully filmmakers Peete and Yapkowitz do that for us. What we have here is a truly stunning documentary that somehow, with no Karen Dalton to interview, gives us a very complete portrait of a complex and brilliant artist.
Using singer Angel Olsen to bring Dalton's poetry to life is a stroke of genius. The people in her life who tell her story, are honest and caring. The look of the film, as if it were found in some old box that had been sitting on a closet shelf for 5 decades perfectly matches the tone, the subject. And the live performances of Dalton that they have managed to find will take your breath away.
As someone who has made 5 (going on 6) music documentaries, I tend to be very hard on them. But IN MY OWN TIME was very easy to fall in love with. Like it's subject's voice, it is damn near perfect.
(Saw this at DOC NYC 2020 film festival.)
