Taylor Swift : Miss Americana

"It was hard to see so many people feel like they had canvassed and done everything and tried so hard. I saw a lot of young people's hopes dashed. And I found that to be particularly tragic, because young people are the people who feel the worst effects of gun violence, and student loans and trying to figure out how to start their lives and how to pay their bills, and climate change, and are we going to war - all these horrific situations that we find ourselves facing right now. "- Taylor Swift

The main objective of a good documentary film is to offer a genuine report with many never-before-seen images and interviews, but above all to provoke the viewer's reflection and even offer a new angle of observation on a subject close to the viewer's heart. In this case, Lana Wilson's new documentary film, following After Tiller (2013) and The Departure (2017), focuses on American singer-songwriter and actress Taylor Swift. A true global star with over 330 awards (ten Grammy Awards, nineteen American Music Awards, seven Country Music Association Awards, six Academy of Country Music Awards, thirteen BMI Awards and one Brit Award), she has sold over 50 million albums worldwide (37 million in the USA).
The construction of this documentary bears witness to the great care taken to better understand the motivations of this great artist, and we devour this film with passion, following with interest her career from her beginnings to her most recent world tour. We gain a better understanding of her personal motivations, her desire to be irreproachable and to put her career first. The numerous recording sessions allow us to discover our favorite artist in a new light, far from the image we have of her.

Far from being a hagiographic documentary, we also discover Taylor Swift weakened by Kanye West's unacceptable attitude at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) in 2009, and later by DJ David Mueller's equally reprehensible attitude, with whom she won her case following the sexual assault to which she was subjected. We will also appreciate her political stance against Marsha Blackburn, who was a candidate for a Senate seat in the November 2018 elections, and her encouragement to all her American fans to be aware of the danger of not voting well for the future of the United States.

Likewise, far from being just a succession of concert tracks and music videos, this documentary prefers to focus on the behind-the-scenes of her concerts, her strong bond with her mother and the many consultants who surround her to advise, protect and, above all, enable her to invest herself fully in her musical creativity. Her seven albums Taylor Swift (2006), Fearless (2008), Speak Now (2010), Red (2012), 1989 (2014), Reputation (2017) and especially her latest to date and one of her best Lover (2019) illustrate the musical evolution of this artist who never ceases to want to break away from the labels the music industry seems to want to put on her. From her beginnings in country music to her orientation towards pop music, it's easy to understand her desire to move forward at all costs, to renew herself and, above all, to deliver musical pieces that testify to her artistic maturity.

The best moments of this excellent documentary are those in which Taylor Swift expresses herself naturally, putting forward her doubts, her desire to be irreproachable, never to disappoint her worldwide fans (even if in some countries, such as France, the public doesn't seem to recognize her immense talent and appreciate her music to the full). For anyone unfamiliar with his music, this documentary is an excellent introduction. We'd also like to point out that her excellent concert in Dallas in 2018 is available on Netflix and is well worth a look.
Finally, we can't wait to discover her in concert when she performs at the Nîmes arena on July 5. In the meantime, we'll continue to enjoy listening to her excellent albums and her latest unreleased track, Only the Young, which accompanies the release of this documentary.

Taylor Swift: Miss Americana
A film by Lana Wilson
Produced by Morgan Neville, Caitrin Rogers, Christine O'Malley
With Taylor Swift
Music by Taylor Swift, Alex Somers
Director of photography: Emily Topper
Editing: Paul Marchand, Greg O'Toole, Lee Rosch, Lindsay Utz, Jason Zeldes
Production: Tremolo Productions
Distribution: Netflix
Release date: January 23, 2020 (Sundance), January 31, 2020
Running time : 85mns
85 minutes

Viewed January 31, 2020 on Netflix