Matangi/Maya/M.I.A

I had first heard about M.I.A back in 2010 when her song Born Free made headlines for being banned from YouTube due its violent content. That music video, just like this film, is filled with extremely tough subjects, artsy shots and good music.

Terrorised and accosted back in her home country and racially abused and put down in the western world, M.I.A still managed to continue her efforts at raising awareness to the war in Sri Lanka, either in her music or outside of it, while still mixing great beats and inspiring song lyrics to her artistry.

With the subject of immigration still being a broiling hot topic, we absolutely need more people like her in the public eye.

When M.I.A.'s first album Arular came out, it was like an explosion that dropped from another planet. The rawness, the beats, the cover-art, the originality! It was a huge creative influence for me and my circle of friends at the time.

It is therefore a treat to be able to see how that album came to be, from the original footage from Maya's early days. Her ingenuity was plain to see from a very young age, she was just dripping with creativity that poured out of her like a torrent, and this documentary captures it all. The old footage of her childhood, her art school days, and her homemade videos of family and friends, are by far the strongest parts of the film.

After this, it covers her rise to fame and details are lost in the shuffle. One minute she's filming her family in Sri Lanka, and the next she's playing international music festivals. But what happened in between, how did she move from film to music? How did she create her signature sound on Arular, which became the foundation for her future work? Though we do get to hear some of her earliest recordings, no in-depth information on her musical process is offered.

As the film progresses, it turns its focus increasingly towards her public image and becomes substantially less interesting. Her rebellious spirit, so enchanting as a young artist, becomes cloying when she, a wealthy popstar, explains that giving the middle finger at her Super Bowl performance was activism.

Despite this criticism, Maya is an incredibly dynamic artist and I'm sure any fan of her music will certainly find this film worth watching.

I appreciate this movie, and I appreciate MIA. She has been a pillar of humanity and intelligence, and I am grateful her ability to view reality and make an art of it, assembling the pieces based on pattern recognition. There is so much violence, and each of us participates in de-humanizing each other. I hope that this movie can expose some of our violent tendencies.

Having only listened to a handful of her songs, M.I.A. was relatively unknown to me both as an artist and a person. Now that I've seen this informative documentary, she has earned my utmost respect for the work she produces and as an individual. A documentary chronicling her early childhood in guerrilla warfare Sri Lanka (Matangi), her immigration to London where she becomes inquisitive regarding the Tamil rebellion (Maya) and her rapid rise to fame as an international pop star where she utilises the medium to convey the brutality of the civil war to the masses (M.I.A.). Fame, fortune and popularity were ideals that never motivated Matangi. Through first-hand experience, she had encountered the very worst of the Sri Lankan civil war. The mass executions. Child deaths. Rape and misogyny. But naturally she felt as if no one was actively attempting to stop the war. No news coverage whatsoever. As a result of this, she utilised her natural rhythmic talents to convey the negative connotations of the war through her music. She never wanted to make a hit, but only to share her views. What this documentary does exceedingly well is make Matangi a relatable individual. Her humanity shines through, and the recordings of her family enhance this perspective. The rapid progression into her musical career coexists with her right to support the Tamil Tigers, and the two are balanced well. Loveridge does encounter a few focussing issues as he is unable to decide which topic takes priority, but for the most part integrates both aspects of her life efficiently. The second half tackles the various media outlets singling her out as a controversial artist, and that is when the film truly finds its pace. The several narrative time jumps does make her life seem disconnected, and does skew the pacing frequently. Her music makes a remarkable impression, however this documentary fails to do that. Whilst that may sound unfair, it was culturally informative and engaging despite the cumbersome narrative stumbles.

Why I gave a 4/10.

As far as self-documentaries go, I'd say this is one of the best. You'll immediately notice that she's a talent around the camera and the portrayal of the three faces of her life, "Matangi, Maya and M. I A." is also laid out in a very captivating manner. When it comes to the political side, it does a decent job at portraying what an immigrant, especially a Sri Lankan or an Indian would have to experience when moving to western countries like the UK even in this day and age. Above all it's not boring to watch. Because I've found most documentaries that are based around artists like this to be quite sluggish and boring but definitely not this one.

Why I gave a 4/10?

The politics. The allegations she's trying to highlight regarding the wartime incidents in Sri Lanka are extremely one-sided. If I were a Tamil person who supported the LTTE and their views, I'll accord with almost every statement she makes about the civil war in this documentary. There's really nothing in terms of accounts from the other side. The Sri Lankan civil war was an immensely, tremendously complicated situation which ultimately stands every party that got involved in it at fault. To put it simply, there were no good guys and bad guys. Both sides traded blows and only ones that truly got hurt were the innocent civilians and the heroic young soldiers. It's not right of her to accuse an entire nation with atrocities while only having exposure to a mere fraction of the situation. These facts alone were grim enough for me to give this a 4 out of 10. If she was going to touch the war topic, she could've at least done it right.

As a "self-documentary" Matangi/Maya/M. I. A. Is a solid make. It's a shame that numerous bits got cut out in the final production (as she stated in an interview with Vanity Fair) as I'm sure they could've also been equally engaging. But it's easy to understand as to why they were cut out in the first place. The message she's trying to put out politically is simply deceiving for anyone who don't know about the history and the development of the Sri Lankan civil war.