Joan Baez I Am a Noise

"Joan Baez - I Am a Noise" is a poignant and intimate portrait of a legendary singer-activist.

This documentary offers a rare glimpse into the life of Joan Baez, beyond the iconic image of a folk music legend. It delves deep into her personal archives, revealing a complex and multifaceted individual.

Baez's vulnerability shines through as she opens up about her struggles and triumphs.

The film offers a unique perspective on her life, from her early days to her later years.

The documentary seamlessly weaves together archival footage, interviews, and personal reflections.

While the film covers many aspects of Baez's life, some may have wished for more depth in certain areas.

"Joan Baez - I Am a Noise" is a must-watch for fans of Joan Baez and anyone interested in music and activism. It's a beautifully crafted documentary that pays tribute to a true icon.

As "Joan Baez: I Am a Noise" (2023 release; 113 min) opens, Baez is singing "Oh Freedom" a cappella in footage from decade ago. We then go to the present, to Baez's home in California, where she talks into the camera about how fame at an early age affected her. She is working with a vocal coach in preparations of her 2018-19 "Fare Thee Well" (supposed farewell) world tour. At this point we are 10 minutes into the documentary.

Couple of comments: the film makers in this documentary reflect on the life and times of Joan Baez, age 79 when this was filmed. But as it turns out, this is not your standard bio-pic. Of course it covers the familiar territory: Joan's family background, getting famous at an early age, her complicated relationship with both her sisters, her liaison with Bob Dylan, her involvement with the civil rights movement and later the anti-Vietnam peace movement, it all is covered. Then in the last 30 minutes, the documentary takes a sharp turn into a direction I did not see coming... I won't spoil of course, just watch! It makes for compelling viewing, that's for sure.

"Joan Baez: I Am a Noise" was released in US theaters in the Fall of 2023, and is now streaming on Hulu, where I saw it the other night. The documentary is currently rated 94% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, which feels a little overly generous to me. I sought out the documentary after recently seeing the excellent Dylan bio-pic "A Complete Unknown", where Baez plays a central role. If you are a fan of either Joan Baez or Bob Dylan, I'd readily suggest you check out "Joan Baez: I Am a Noise", and draw your own conclusion.

Another reviewer discusses this under "TMI", and I'm not sure other reviewers understand the issue, unfortunately I know far too many who do. To put a topical spin on this, I'm going to mention the "Satanic Panic" referenced in the last "Stranger Things" series. The panic that Dungeons and Dragons was introducing children to witchcraft and Satanic ritual was only the start. There was another converging phenomenon, of therapists recovering memories of their patients' childhood under hypnosis. It would start with sexual abuse, but there were also several extreme cases where therapists continued hypnosis sessions until the patients started remembering being part of Satanic rituals as children, where other children were sacrificed in Black Masses. This became part of several lawsuits and unfortunately not all the parents were declared innocent right away. There was several years of recovering their reputations as well as having sentences overturned. However sad, there were also many cases that did not rise to such extremes. These were later categorized under "False Memory Syndrome". The therapists were very motivated to find reasons for patients adult dysfunctions in childhood, the patients eager to please therapists and have them solve all their psychological problems. The two motives converge and patients start vaguely remembering abuse, even without hypnotism these false memories can bubble up. And, of course, the patient is alienated from parents, and has to turn to their therapist, and the mental health system generally as kind of "substitute parents". The power rush for the therapist is intense, the patient turns to them for replacing the parent figures who have problably been with them their whole life. This is a serious problem, that continues to go on, in a country that has a generally substandard mental health care system, with many substandard therapists and inadequate therapist education. Does Joan have one of these therapists? Is she being misled about her parents? There's no way of knowing from this documentary, or probably any documentary. Is it a real problem that under-recognized? Absolutely. Tragically.

Joan Baez I am a Noise was enthusiastically received at its North American Premiere at the SXSW Film Festival. The film appears to start out as a tour film of Baez last tour in 2018 at age 78. But it really becomes and incredibly honest and intimate behind-the-scenes examination of her life as well as her music. She shares intimate details of her relationship with Bob Dylan and her husband David Harris. But really the focus in more on her and her struggles with depression and anxiety - subjects that are often hidden from public view. There was clearly a lot of darkness behind her beautiful voice. Some of the parts of the film related to the dysfunction in her family are deeply disturbing. The film also journeys through the connections between her music and her political activism.

The showing was greatly enhanced by Baez's presence at the end of the premiere in which she was enthusiastically welcomed. Clearly, she is a transcendent figure whose music has influenced generations. The film is a powerful record of her life. I also hope that it will give those suffering from mental illness more space to speak about their struggles. Highly recommended for fans as well as those who don't know much about her.

A documentary on the folk music iconoclast from last year. Taking place during her farewell tour during 2018, Baez is interviewed & provides archival photos & film about her rise from a little girl who liked to sing & managed to parlay that love into a career in the burgeoning folk music scene. Chronicling the rivalry she had w/her sister (who embarked in her own career as a singer even though dance was her calling) & also the men in her life which included Bob Dylan (who was at the beginning of his career) & a freedom fighter for change who was jailed for a spell, Baez manages to carve out a niche for herself by doing her own thing for many years singing her songs & even becoming a staple in the civil rights movement as she was at Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech in Washington DC in 1963 & even arrested herself for taking a stand. Always keeping an upbeat eye to her role in her own career (her one misstep, in her opinion, was her appearance at an Amnesty concert in the 1980's she participated in where we see her perform Tears for Fears' "Shout") where she still packs in the audiences who appreciated what she has always done.