Nothing Compares

I saw this really interesting documentary yesterday for the CPH-DOX festival in a packed cinema hall.

I myself have a couple of old and dusty Sinéad O'Connor albums, but they have unfortunately like Sinéad herself been forgotten with time .... And that's a shame, well almost a sin, as she and especially the 3 amazing albums from 1987-92 deserve to be heard! I got several songs, some new ones too, on repeat in my head after seeing the film, "Mandinka" among others.

I was looking forward to the super hit with over 200 million plays on Spotify, which, however, was not included in the documentary due to the rights holders! (Prince Estate!)

Apart from the music, the film took me back in time to my own youth and was both interesting, touching, funny and really really thoughtful especially with the eyes of today.

It deserves to be seen, and Sinéad deserves to be heard.

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.

Nothing Compares (2022) by Kathryn Ferguson is beautifully crafted tribute to one of the most iconic singers of my generation. Sinead's story is both epic, tragic as well deeply inspiring and the director here captured the true value and respect she so rightly deserves. The film gives us a greatly balance montage of performances by Sinead and the political environment surrounding her career and whether you are new to Sinead's work or a lifelong fan honestly i'd say this is a film to see. If you are gonna see one doc this year let it be this one. It's certainly has revitalised my interest in Sinead and well frankly I am in awe of her bravery and passion. Well done to the director, I look forward to her future projects, I know they will be equally as worthy. 8 0ut 10.

This documentary is worth a view if you respect Sinead as an artist, grew up in her heydays, or take an interest in the history of feminism and women's rights.

I have always liked Sineads music a lot, and have been interested to learn more about the music she made in those mysterious years after her 'cancellation' by conservative voices following her tearing up the picture of pope JP II during het performance at Saturday Night Live.

Unfortunately, that scene from the nineties is the end of this movie, so the desire to learn more of the much less documented later period stays undocumented.

The movie mainly focuses on her youth, rise to fame and her heydays and her downfall, the latter two of which are all too familiar subjects already. The other two parts (youth & rise) are interesting, also as a context for what would follow later, as they explain well how Sineads activist side grew.

As is the case with the music of the last.30 years, her life of those years is also missing from this documentary. Conversion to Islam, rumored lesbianism and the very sad death of her son recently are not here, and that's a journalistic choice that can only be respected.

However, there would be a lot of years & material left for a sequel to this documentary, describing the years post 1992. Maybe less commercially viable, but I'd watch it!

Finally, I've always respected Sinead as an artist and as a human, and this documentary has further solidified that image of her. A troubled mind, but a wonderful principled and sincere person - and a unique artist.

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-