Catching Fire: The Story of Anita Pallenberg

As "Catching Fire: The Story of Anita Pallenberg" (2024 release from the UK; 110 min) opens, we hear Anita introducing herself (in reality: Scarlett Johannson reading from "Black Magic", Anita's unpublished autobiography). We then hear from her son Marlon Richards, who informs us that upon Anita's passing, this unpublished autobiography was found, which now serves as the basis for this documentary. We then go back in time to Anita's youth and upbringing. At this point we are 10 minutes into the documentary.

Couple of comments: this is the latest from award-winning director Alexis Bloom ("Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds"). Here she assesses the life and times of Anita Pallenberg. Let me state upfront that I was vaguely aware of Pallenberg, but really didn't know much about her life's story. This documentary fills that gap nicely, and then some. Pallenberg's claim to fame is of course as muse and mistress to several of the Rolling Stones, but as it turns out she actually had herself quite the career as a model and actress before all that. The documentary features tons of archive photo's and video footage previously unseen (from Pallenberg's personal archives), and interviews a ton of people that were there to witness it all.

"Catching Fire: The Story of Anita Pallenberg" was released in UK theaters in Spring,, 2024. Not sure if it saw a US theatrical release. This is now streaming on Hulu, where I watched it the other night. The documentary is currently rated 88% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, which feels quite generous to me. If you have any interest in Pallenberg, or simply are a fan of the Rolling Stones, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.