An engaging biopic on Aretha Louise Franklin, Respect covers the person, her music and the history of that time in all earnest

Nonika Singh

Aretha Louise Franklin (March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018), an American singer, songwriter and pianist was a complete artiste, activist and a cut above the rest. The biopic Respect brings the life of Queen of Soul alive along with her immeasurable talent her exceptional singing career, as well as her fragility and vulnerabilities. As the narrative follows Aretha’s life journey from traumatic childhood to unprecedented success, you are drawn into her life from the word go.

Daughter of preacher father and civil rights activist CL Franklin (Forest Whitaker), her association both with the church and with the Black rights movement via Martin Luther King Jr (Gilbert Glenn Brown) is suitably established. One of the biggest lessons, incidentally, comes to her by way of a rebuke from another queen of singing, Diane Washington, whose song she tries to sing in her presence. Diane tells her to find songs that suit and move her. And did Aretha move the world… Once she begins to find her voice, it’s literally an upward march. Or is it really? For not only her past demons, she was pregnant at 12, catch up. But her marriage (Marlon Wayans as Ted White) too plays havoc with her life. Thus, we are privy to the downside of her life; especially dramatic is the scene where in a drunken stupor she falls off the stage. Being a woman is never easy and back in the fifties, when both your race and gender work against you, it could only have been a double whammy. What is amazing about this musical story is that we get to see as much of the singer who won 18 Grammy Awards, as the woman behind signature songs like Respect.

In the movie, its picturisation is electric and sways you all along and lines like “What you want, baby, I got it, what you need, do you know I got it? All I’m askin’ is for a little respect when you get home,” could well be her life story as well as of the millions of women around the world back then and, perhaps, even now. In one of the key scenes, a fan comes to her and tells her how her songs remind her of her own state. Respect, though originally recorded by American soul singer Otis Redding, when released in 1967 by Aretha, became an anthem of social change. It was as much about gender equations as racial discrimination, and touched both a chord and raw nerve of all.

If music is the heartbeat of the film, so is the drama around her life. While the technique behind her songs comes to the fore, it does not bog you down even when we get to hear musical terms. Rather, the manner in which her music is analysed, especially the part her siblings played is remarkably insightful and interesting. Besides, while we get to hear her popular songs like, “I Never Loved a Man” and ‘You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman’, it’s no way just a stringing together of her musical performances nor a juxtaposition of archival footage. We see the real her in the concluding credits… Till then we watch Jenifer Hudson own the part both with her acting talent and her singing prowess. Even Skye Dakota Turner, as young Aretha brings out the shades of her character.

Respect is a fine portrayal of an extraordinary singer often described as a ‘powerful mezzo-soprano voice’. There is every reason to hail the woman who received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, whose voice was declared a Michigan ‘natural resource’ and who became the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. However, the film does not gloss over the rough notes. It records her life with due respect and candour, and knows what exactly to focus on. Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, watch it to know what an engaging biopic that covers the person, her music and the history of that time, is all about.