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View Full Version : Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. (Steve Loveridge)



Spinal
10-30-2018, 07:14 PM
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Spinal
10-30-2018, 07:51 PM
I'm predisposed to enjoy anything M.I.A. does, but I don't think you need to be a fan to appreciate this documentary. The focus of this film isn't really her music, although you do hear plenty of it. It's really about Maya's story, in which she escapes from Sri Lanka as a refugee and the daughter of a major political revolutionary, ends up in London where she's roommates with one of Britpop's biggest stars, goes on to become a major musical star in her own right, and then wrestles with her own conscience as someone who very well could have lived a very different, very violent life.

A lot of the film is pulled from amateur footage, so a certain amount of patience is necessary in terms of jostling, lighting and composition. However, the trade-off is that the film has multiple moments that are so intimate that it's hard to believe that they were captured. Watching Maya hash out a mild argument with close friend Justine Frischmann is a little surreal, although perhaps less so when we learn that she was essentially Elastica's touring videographer at the time. Even more captivating is watching M.I.A.'s post-Super Bowl reactions as she learns that her halftime "bird" during Madonna's performance has become a much bigger deal than she could have anticipated.

The film is far from unbiased. The director is a longtime friend, as he tells his audience early on. The film nonetheless does explore the question of how effective an advocate for the disenfranchised can be while living a life of comfort (if you can call being a blunt-speaking female political dissident "comfort"). However, unlike Bono, where you feel like the ego and personality get in the way of the cause, M.I.A.'s method of communication is passionate but rarely strident. When others attempt to take her down for hypocrisy or for speaking out of turn, it tends to simply reflect their own biases and ignorance.

The film's greatest strength is access. By providing us with the materials that document Maya's life and the key moments and relationships that shaped her personality, it gives us a portrait of a unique pop star with an anti-authoritarian passion, well-suited to our times.

(NOTE: Included in this film is footage of a brutal execution, as a part of providing an understanding of the Sri Lankan conflict and related atrocities. It is used to make a larger point, but it may not be something you would necessarily anticipate in a music documentary.)