Clarence Clemons: Who Do I Think I Am? Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Clarence Clemons: Who Do I Think I Am? Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 28, 2019

Those who relish juicy little anecdotes involving celebrities may well recall that the "uber diva" Patti Lupone stopped a performance of Gypsy a few years ago when at least one audience member was attempting to take a picture of her, in a direct breaking of rules which are of course well documented at the beginning of most Broadway shows, courtesy of both text reminders in the Playbill and often even an audio reminder that plays just before the Overture starts up. Lupone quite famously repeatedly demanded to know of this particular audience member, "Who do you think you are?", and that insistent query sprang to my mind as I watched this really appealing documentary on the late Clarence Clemons, since the underlying subtext of this probably unavoidably melancholic piece is that Clemons was just on the cusp of figuring out who he thought he was.

Clemons of course sprang to fame as the sax player for Bruce Springsteen, and there are some sweet archival videos here documenting that collaboration. But what some who thrilled to performances of the E Street Band may not have realized is what a spiritual quest Clemons seemed to be on, a quest which led him to China in what might be seen as a kind of mystical echo of similar journeys to India that folks like George Harrison (and the other Beatles) took back in the sixties. There's a glut of biographical information here given by a number of those who knew and worked with Clemons (including some really sweet reminiscences by two of Clemons' aunts), and there's even some old archival interview snippets with Clemons himself. What emerges is a portrait of a questioning soul who seemed a little taken aback by his success and may have been attempting to find a "reason" for it all.

Clarence Clemons: Who Do I Think I Am? Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Clarence Clemons: Who Do I Think I Am? is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Virgil Films and MVD Visual with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. As with many documentaries like this which have been cobbled together from disparate sources, there's a probably unavoidably heterogeneous look to the proceedings here, but that said, sadly a lot of the archival video featuring Clemons looks to have been upscaled, and suffers from anomalies like stair stepping and slightly bleeding colors. The contemporary interview sequences are typically sharp as a tack, though the entire documentary is intentionally on the "arty" side at times, with a lot of the contemporary footage being black and white, and with interstitial moments like a hand twisting the tuning dial on a transistor radio adding to the stylistic mix.

Clarence Clemons: Who Do I Think I Am? Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Clarence Clemons: Who Do I Think I Am? features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 tracks. This is in essence a talking heads feature, though there are quite a few interstitial snippets of Clemons playing, and the surround track does at least marginally open up those moments, as well as provide a probably better accounting of the low end. All of the first person confessionals delivered directly to the camera sound fine, and while some of the archival audio featuring Clemons has some limitations (it sounds like Clemons phoned in to one of the interviews), there aren't any major issues to warrant any real concern.

Clarence Clemons: Who Do I Think I Am? Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There are no supplements offered on this Blu-ray disc. The Main Menu offers Play, Chapters and Setup options.

Clarence Clemons: Who Do I Think I Am? Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Clemons' unexpected death in 2011 at the age of 69 brought his quest for deeper meaning to an untimely end, but this documentary makes it clear that Clemons had been exploring his own ideas of faith and personal evolution for some time, so that hopefully he went to his reward with a greater understanding of who in fact he was and what he had accomplished in his storied career. There's an unavoidably bittersweet quality to this piece, but it's clear from the wide array of people offering their memories of Clemons just how deeply beloved he was by the people he came into contact with. Technical merits are generally solid here, though some of the archival video definitely looks upscaled, as can probably be seen in some of the screenshots accompanying this review. For Springsteen and/or Clemons fans at least, Clarence Clemons: Who Do I Think I Am? comes Recommended.