The Josephine Baker Story Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

The Josephine Baker Story Blu-ray Movie Review

"No one's ever been able to tell that girl anything..."

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown January 31, 2012

Singer, dancer, actress, lover, mother, inspiration, outspoken anti-segregationalist, World War II Resistance spy, Civil Rights activist, the first African American woman to star in a major motion picture, and the first person Coretta Scott King asked to lead the American Civil Rights Movement after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. If it I didn't know it were all true, I'd scarcely believe it. Josephine Baker was a lot of things to a lot of people, but only a few -- her fiercest critics and opponents -- would argue she was anything less than extraordinary. The award-winning 1991 HBO original movie based on her life, though, is anything but extraordinary. The Josephine Baker Story hasn't aged gracefully at all, and hails from an era when television miniseries and movies weren't what they are today. Lynn Whitfield may have taken home an Emmy for her performance, but that same performance would barely be noticed in 2011, much less honored. Instead, the film slinks by on the merit of its story, history, costumes and production design, and stands as more of a curious relic in period filmmaking than the timeless biopic someone like Josephine Baker deserves.

"One dance had made me the most famous colored woman in the world..."

The Josephine Baker Story begins in the summer of 1917 as a young Josephine (Mayah McCoy, then Ainslie Currie) is forced to witness the ongoing birth pangs of a post-Emancipation nation. Race riots, lynchings, murders; the stuff of nightmares for most, but the reality of everyday life for a little black girl growing up in the Southern slums of St. Louis, Missouri. Unspeakable abuse followed, leaving her with the overwhelming urge to break free from her social chains and find somewhere she could become the woman she would one day become. Of course, Josephine's early years had tremendous pull on her trajectory through life, from the time she spent performing in America to her rise to stardom in Paris to her involvement in the European war effort to her eventual return to the U.S. and subsequent contributions to the Civil Rights movement. In spite of covering decades of Baker's life, though, screenwriter Ron Hutchinson sticks to his "Josephine's Greatest Hits" guns with a two-hour rundown of nearly seventy years, leaving many crucial moments truncated, hastily cobbled together, or ignored (typically in part, sometimes in whole). Only a modest amount of time is devoted to understanding who Josephine was, and even less is granted to some of the things she achieved and obstacles she overcame. Her formative years are reduced to a handful of woefully brief impressions, her years in vaudeville flash by in a relative instant, her role as a mother (and her adoption of twelve children) is shortchanged a bit, and Hutchinson never quite closes in on precisely what made Baker the social and cultural icon she's considered by so many to be.

Whitfield, meanwhile, isn't miscast; just misused. She overreaches, overextends and overplays too many scenes, no doubt at the insistence of director Brian Gibson and a (noble) desire to make Baker's larger than life story, well, larger than life. But a larger than life performance is rather unnecessary when the story it accompanies already accomplishes all that and more. Whitfield starts out well enough, but by the time she starts stripping down Josephine (and stripping off her top), her delivery stalls just south of compelling and just north of bearable. Her supporting cast doesn't help either. Stagecraft trumps screencraft, stilted enthusiasm trumps subtle nuance, and the film's "romances" amount to fawning, pawing, awkward ecstasy and, eventually, heated then tearful exchanges. How Whitfield didn't collapse from exhaustion at the end of every day is beyond me. She sweats more than she emotes, beams more than she reflects, and exudes manic zeal more than thoughtful grace under fire. Baker's twilight years find the exceptionally passionate actress finally exercising some restraint... only to play hostess to a few new problems. There's a reason The Josephine Baker Story didn't win an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Makeup (even in 1991), and it's more apparent in high definition. Whitfield sometimes looks as if she stepped out of Bruce Geller's Mission: Impossible series rather than a page from history. Seams show, her wrinkles jostle unnaturally, and her prosthetics perch stiffly on her brow and hang lifelessly on her weary face. It may seem like I'm being unfair, unkind even, but it impacts Whitfield's ability to inhabit the elder Josephine. Her expressiveness is muted and she's left with little choice but to ramp up her efforts (for one last stage show) to combat her sagging jowls.

That said, even the weakest elements skirt by with enough finesse to prevent the film from falling flat on its face, especially when viewed as a product of its time. HBO wasn't always the king of the television hill, and the premium cable network's early forays into original series and movies weren't the jaw-dropping, genre-defining productions we so take for granted today. In 1991, The Josephine Baker Story was a pioneer of sorts, daring to do what only feature films and multi-million dollar broadcast network movies seemed capable of delivering. It wasn't the first, nor the most well-received, but it did forge the future for HBO while turning its attention to the past. For all its faults, Gibson's final cut is more than competent and boasts a level of costume and production design that still impresses today. Gibson's attention to period detail is commendable as well, and helps propel the film along even when Whitfield stumbles or the script underwhelms. And I would be remiss to overlook the significance of a Baker biopic, whatever its form. Josephine Baker isn't at all what you'd expect from a groundbreaking performer, an international sensation or a Civil Rights forerunner, the unfortunate consequence of which is that her story isn't often shared. (Read up on Audie Murphy for another oft-overlooked WWII-era icon Hollywood has somehow forgotten over the decades.) As such, The Josephine Baker Story has inherent value, if only of a historical nature. It isn't a bad film (if nothing else it's a decent period melodrama), but in my estimation it isn't a great film either. I'm sure there are some who will enjoy it far more than I did, though, so a rental is probably in order.

The Josephine Baker Story Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

HBO's 1080p/AVC-encoded video transfer may be fairly faithful to the film's original photography, but you may not think so at first. Cinematographer Elemér Ragályi blankets a number of daytime interiors and exteriors in stark, color-bleaching white light (to the point that many a shot appears overexposed), while some darker scenes, even those that take place in lavishly shadowed night clubs, theaters or concert halls, look as if someone flicked on the lights in the middle of a performance. It's an aesthetic choice (or necessity perhaps) that undermines the integrity, richness and detail of Ragályi's photography and, subsequently, hinders the impact of HBO's high definition presentation, if only by way of misperception. The encode itself, though, strikes me as a sound one, and I noticed little in the way of actual issues. Grain has been preserved (uneven and chunky as it sometimes is), fine textures are refined (when inherent softness isn't at play), and edges, though diffuse on occasion, are generally sharp and free of unsightly halos. Closeups fare better than any other shot, with an array of facial textures on display, and even reveal the seams in Whitfield's makeup. (Which proves to be a distraction, even if it isn't a point of contention with the technical transfer.) Moreover, aside from some brief, fleeting artifacting, there aren't any garish anomalies to report. As films go, The Josephine Baker Story doesn't always look very good, but without altering the film's contrast leveling and color timing, without imposing modern standards upon the filmmakers' original intentions, I doubt The Josephine Baker Story could look much better than it does here. Set your expectations accordingly.

The Josephine Baker Story Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

While it features aggressive rear speaker activity, Josephine Baker's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track isn't nearly as satisfying as I expected. "Unnatural" is a fitting descriptor, "stagey" even more so. Ambient effects and acoustics are merely loud, not refined or smartly prioritized, and a prevailing hiss is present through a number of scenes. There also isn't much in the way of directionality. Environments idle at the rear of the soundstage but rarely exhibit any real immersive properties or convincing movement. Thankfully, Georges Delerue's music fills the soundfield with sweeping ease, redeeming the overall experience quite a bit. Dialogue is clean and clear as well, despite the fact that a selection of tinny lines, a few thin voices and a troubling selection of wholly front-heavy environments make it as inconsistent and artificial (there's that word again) as it is intelligible. Ultimately, The Josephine Baker Story is married to its source, for better or worse, and its lossless mix follows suit.

The Josephine Baker Story Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The only extra included on the Blu-ray edition of The Josephine Baker Story is a newly recorded look-back commentary with actress Lynn Whitfield, writer Ron Hutchinson and associate producer Alisa Taylor. The trio slink through the film, continually noting Baker's energy and passion but showing little of their own. It's a serviceable track, but more anecdotal than anything. Without director Brian Gibson, though, or even production supervisor László Helle or costume designer Maria Hruby, the overview is light on information and heavy on ask question, pause to think, vague recollection meanderings. It's better than nothing, I suppose, but only those who adore the film or the course of Baker's life and stardom need apply.

The Josephine Baker Story Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's a powerful film buried in The Josephine Baker Story, one that HBO would no doubt deliver if it were being produced today. But twenty-one years ago, it was a part of a grander experiment; another step in HBO's then-cautious foray into the future. It received far more attention in 1991 than it would in 2011, not to mention a far more gracious pass from critics and viewers. Twenty-one years later it's a dated relic riddled with clunky performances and chronic overacting. It isn't a terrible film, and has its place in broadcast history, but it isn't a very good film either. Sadly, its Blu-ray debut has its own problems. With a faithful but aesthetically challenged video presentation, a stagey DTS-HD Master Audio track and a lackluster supplemental package, it doesn't measure up to the kind of releases HBO has been spoiling us with since 2006. Period pieces and HBO Blu-ray stunners are my bread-n-butter, but The Josephine Baker Story and its Blu-ray release left my stomach growling.