GRACE JONES: BLOODLIGHT AND BAMI (2018)

Directed by Sophie Fiennes


Where & When: Los Feliz 3 Cinemas, Los Angeles, CA.  May 13, 2018 4:15 PM



After beginning her career as a model back in the '70's, Grace Jones went on to become a celebrated singer and actor, all on her own terms. She is far from a conventional figure. Despite an intimidating masculine presence, Jones is certainly all woman; soft, gentle and even flirtatious when so desired. With such a confident and striking personality, any documentary about her should have resulted with an effortlessly fascinating experience.

Yet with “Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami” ("bloodlight" is a word that her long-time producers, Sly and Robbie coined for the red light that comes on when recording is about to begin while "bami" is a Jamaican bread), director Sophie Fiennes  (and yes, she is related to English actors, Ralph and Joseph) has managed to present this powerful performer in a way that feels slight and ordinary. The film keeps to the surface, never lingering too long on any particular moment and doesn't get far enough beneath the colorful facade of Jones.

This documentary was filmed almost a decade ago during the recording of "Hurricane", which was her first album at the time in ten years which she self-produced and features many autobiographical songs. This is tied to a trip back to her home country of Jamaica with her son, Paulo to visit family and reconnect to the island she left when she was a young girl to move to upstate New York.

At seventy years old, Jones remains a marvelous eccentric as we watch her engaging in such activities as precariously shucking her own oysters, wearing a colorful shirt as a head wrap during a recording session or drinking champagne first thing in the morning in nothing but a fur coat. She speaks in a deep voice that mingles her native Jamaican patois with French and British English accents that adds to her mysterious allure.

There have been plenty of stories of her outrageous behavior throughout her varied career but you will find little mention of it here. Some events are brought up only in passing conversation like the time she slapped a talk show host for apparently ignoring her yet we are not given any backstory to this or any other incidents that have occurred in Ms Jones' life. Ms Fiennes has decided to simply observe the icon, offering no talking heads, voice-over or detailed introduction of the people we meet circling her orbit. Even a brief history lesson would have certainly benefited those who may not have even been born during the height of her renown.

It’s clear the director didn’t want to be intrusive and tried to help her subject feel more comfortable by using minimal lighting and inconspicuous sound recording. But there are too many underlit scenes (which is an unfortunate situation for people with darker skin tones) and muddy sound during the Jamaica trip that make many of the poignant moments there less than effective. The choppy editing by Ms Fiennes causes the film to meander with all the flourishes of a film school project.

However, the well-shot concert footage saves the day in helping bring the film to life. With the aide of extravagantly inventive hats by famed milliner, Philip Treacy, Ms Jones is in her element captivating an audience with her intense, otherworldly performances during the tour to promote her album.

A singular and provocative artist, Grace Jones has had a life filled with bold creativity and wild abandon. With "Bloodlight and Bami", the film celebrates the dynamic legend while attempting to reveal the unvarnished side of the woman from the Caribbean. But we ultimately end up with plenty of Ms. Jones, the entertainer and far less of Ms. Jones, the individual.