I'll Sing for You (2001/2004) (AKA Je chanterai pour
toi)
Most musical documentaries fall
under the "for fans only" category. To be blunt, this
one is no exception. The real question here is: Does
the subject of this documentary even have enough fans
around the United States to warrant the release of
this film to arthouses? To be quite realistic, I honestly
doubt it. Perhaps in major metropolitan areas, like
New York and L.A., there would be enough fans to fill
a couple of showings but here, in a small city like
Austin, even with our incredible musical community,
I tend to doubt enough fans exist to warrant its release
at the local Landmark Dobie theater.
The subject here is KarKar, a African
"blues" musician and singer who had a handful of hits
in his native country of Mali in the 60's. KarKar's
life is examined chronologically, in a way, with much
of the beginning of the film used to discuss his work
in his youthful heyday. Most of the songs KarKar sings
at this time are about the revolution occurring in
Mali in the early 60's. These are political songs
but not really ones of revolution, more ones of the
praise of the people for their hard work in attaining
the country's freedom. They are somewhat post-revolutionary
songs.
But we really learn very little
about Mali and nothing of its revolutions. There simply
is no context here. We have no idea what KarKar really
meant to the people of his country during that time
or in the present day. Again, if you are a history
buff you might know what this film's early information
is all about. Or if you are a big fan of KarKar, you
might already have a deep understanding of the political
situations in his country because they are so relevant
to his work. For the uninitiated, however, there is
only a general understanding of what this is all about
but overall much of it is what we can piece together
as the film unspools and our understanding here comes
from juxtaposing the presented information against
our knowledge of political revolutions in other countries.
There are several people who talk
about KarKar as if they knew him well and one even
speaks as if he might be a biographer of the great
musician, but these people are never identified and
much of the film takes on a sort of talking head interview
situation except that we have no idea who the heads
are. It's as if they interviewed Danny Sugarman about
the Doors but failed to identify him or put him in
context by explaining that he wrote the definitive
biography of that band. While we glean some knowledge
from these interviews, and they are occassionally
interesting, they do little to help us understand
the focus of the film here.
"I'll Sing for You" offers up many
looks at the now aged KarKar and shows him traveling
back to his old haunts to meet with friends and perform
music. We never get any appreciation for what KarKar
means to these people because he is never recognized
in the street, never met by adoring fans. He meets
up with some old friends but their reunions seem more
like the stuff of home movies than of riveting documentaries.
Perhaps this lack of obvious adoration is a cultural
thing, because a few people do stop to literally sing
his praises in the film, but overall we, as an American
audience, just are not allowed into this world. We
are like outsiders looking in, having to piece together
what we can and usually feeling very confused.
So, when KarKar plays guitar and
sings at gatherings, we don't understand what the
big hoopla is all about. There are never more than
10 people gathered about. If KarKar is a musician
who deserves an entire documentary to be devoted to
him, wouldn't he be mobbed by adoring fans wherever
he goes? Am I being a stupid American by even suggesting
this? If I am, then this film is not intended for
stupid Americans. Again, it is a "for fans only" affair.
Albeit, there is one concert segment
of the singer and musician performing on stage (to
an unseen audience in a modern venue) but we have
no idea where this is taking place or for whom the
musician is performing. Is he such a well- respected
and well-know figure outside of Africa (he is shown
to have spent some time in Paris) that Europeans or
other people automatically know who he is? There is
nothing here, no subtitles or text panels, no narration,
to help us understand what we are being exposed to.
It all gets rather annoying.
KarKar does perform a few songs
in the film and these scenes are quite wonderful.
Here we begin to understand why his music might be
universally loved and appreciated. He has a powerful
voice and plays guitar beautifully. But his lyrics
are so narrow in scope, when put up in subtitles,
that they seem silly to the casual viewer. Every single
song KarKar sings here is either about his beloved
country, Mali, or in praise of his beloved dead wife,
Pirette. It gets a bit repetitive.
Who is KarKar? Granted, I have a
better understanding of that after seeing this film.
Where is he popular? With whom is he popular? Why
is he noteworthy enough to have a film made about
him? Why is his music relevant? Why should someone
who knows nothing of this man see this film?
I have no idea.
Note:
In French with subtitles. The title
is in French. Where is Mali? Dude, I have no idea.
Written, directed and produced by
Jacques Sarasin.
Released in Uruguay in 2001, France
in 2002 and in the U.S, in 2004.
Viewed at a press sneak at the Dobie
in May of 2004.
