Joan Baez I Am A Noise

PG
Dir: Miri Navasky/Maeve O’Boyle/Karen O’Connor
US, 2023, 113 min
Joan Baez, Joan Baez Sr., Bill Clinton

“An up-close, intimate account of a career that arched across more than 60 years of musical and political expression while countless trends came and went, this elaborate documentary navigates adroitly through the professional and the personal aspects of a very full life… Whether you’ve followed her career for decades or are just now discovering her, the life under scrutiny is undeniably impressive and ceaselessly engaging… The daughter of a brilliant Stanford scientist who co-invented the x-ray microscope, young Joan suffered from anxiety and an inferiority complex which nonetheless didn’t stop her from becoming famous while still in her late teens…. After initial 1958 gigs at Boston’s Club 47, Baez was invited to perform at the Newport Jazz Festival the following summer, which instantly put her securely on the musical map. Her first album was a smash, as was her next, and she was summoned to Carnegie Hall before she was 18… Even at the earliest age, Baez’s dedication to social issues was evident, which brought her early on to link up with, then traumatizingly split from, the very young Bob Dylan, of whom there is considerable amusing footage… Even for those who might feel they’ve seen more than enough footage of the counter-culture 1960s, there is still much here that’s unfamiliar… The film is rewarding for revealing a major cultural personality in a satisfying fullness.” —Todd McCarthy, Deadline