Zappa

I gave this my own title because I feel that was the focus. And it's very well done! This movie gives you the full spectrum of Frank Zappa. It doesn't sugar coat the subject. While showing his brilliance it shows his flaws. The parts dealing with his end of life can be very emotional as it should be. Considering the vast volume of source material I was hoping for more of the Garrick Theater era, but it wasn't to be. Perhaps it's not available. Maybe some longer clips of concert material too. But it isn't that type of film. Hopefully everyone will see just how talented and driven Frank Zappa is from watching this. Alex Winter does a great job of showing his talent as a composer. Only lacking in showing what a proficient guitar player he was. Never really emphasized how ground breaking he was in that area. I still highly recommend seeing the movie!

Very personal look at a crazy, brilliant, brave, unique, individual.

While I have never been a fan of his music, I've always been a huge fan of his originality and passion for freedom.

Though the producers and directors of this movie paint conservative politicians as the oppressors, I believe that Frank knew it was all politicians. I wonder what he would say about the country we are living in today.

This film was interesting in a lot of ways but there seemed to be large portions of Frank's life missing here...the focus really concentrated on FZ as the composer and the early beginnings through the Mothers...after the Mothers disbanded there seemed to be a large gap and fast forward to his final performance as a composer with the final notes stating he released 62 albums......would have been nice to at least walk through the 70's and 80's a bit more than the Warner Bros. Release fiasco and the Senate hearings.....ohhh well...worth a watch for content otherwise not seen....

I have been a lover of Frank Zappa's music since the late 70's. In the Fall of 1977, a friend asked me if I had ever listened to Frank Zappa, and I responded with disgust, relating to him the (false) urban legend of Zappa winning a "gross-out" contest with Alice Cooper by eating one of Cooper's own fresh turds on-stage. Without another word, my friend jumped up and put an album on - I didn't see (or ask) what album it was. After the first minute or so of music, I was really digging it, so I asked my friend who the artist was. "Frank Zappa," he replied (the album was "Roxy and Elsewhere," the side with "Village of the Sun" on it).

I was transfixed - I spent the rest of the afternoon in my friend's dorm room, cutting classes and going through my friend's Zappa albums. I have been a "Zappacolyte" ever since.

Winter's documentary offers a view of Frank Zappa as seen "from behind the curtain." There are loads of interviews with Frank, but also with Gail Zappa and with many members of Frank's bands over the years, as well as with friends and associates (for example, Alice Cooper appears in the movie). I found the interviews of Ruth Underwood and Steve Vai particularly insightful and touching. Along with the interviews, a huge treasure trove of footage is presented which is edited and spliced perfectly with the voice-overs.

Thankfully, Winter worked extra-hard to show us the "real" Frank Zappa. To do anything less would've allowed the movie to descend into a hagiography that would've been the ultimate insult to the memory of a unique genius like Frank.

"Zappa" starts somewhat slowly and perhaps a little pedantically, but this helps to lay the foundation for the presentation of Frank's later years. By the end, I had tears in my eyes as Winter's biography culminated in a heartfelt yet "open-eyed" tribute to one of the greatest musicians, composers, and spokesmen of our time.

I was expecting all sorts of over-the-top freaky posturing and interviews for the sake of a buck, which Frank would have despised. Instead it was a decent and accurate synopsis of a man who will forever be shrouded in mystery.

The impact Frank Zappa had on many generations of slowly aging young persons coming of age, listening to FZ albums and never being the same again, seems to be the point of this documentary.

I was impressed through the whole thing. The production was never sensationalist. It is a somewhat gripping bio of a man finding his way as an artist. I think they call themselves "influencers" now.