Customer Reviews

Dixie Chicks: Shut Up & Sing (Full Screen Edition)

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Have you ever wondered what would happen if the number-one selling gal group in history were to go to another country and say they were embarrassed that the leader of the free world was from Texas?

Well, you are in luck, because "Shut Up and Sing" is a documentary focusing on that very question.

It all began with a little zinger, a bit of nothing really, directed at some president or another. But... that zinger irritated me. You see, I like my music with soul, but hold the politics, thank you very much. When ensuing boycotts were bandied, I was amused. Turnabout is fair play. But then something spooked the herd and... good God, the entire genre of country music went stampeding off a cliff. I was not amused.

"Shut Up and Sing" makes us all Dixie Chicks. Through the camera's eye, we become one of the girls as they move from slinging free speech, to receiving free-flowing hatred, to shifting into (my favorite) a reasoned, measured fight mode. Along the way we discover that the Dixie Chicks are loved wives, loving moms, supportive friends, amazing artists and... the target of crackpot death threats. Who said that was okay?

America didn't. I didn't. And I bet you didn't either.

From this evolution of events, we witness the genesis of the next Dixie Chicks album "Taking the Long Way." With producer Rick Rubin, the Chicks put voice to their American experience. The top of the charts and five Grammy nominations followed.

Question: What do the Dixie Chicks, Abraham Lincoln, and a man standing in front of a line of Chinese tanks have in common?

Answer: They are all my heroes.

"Shut Up and Sing" is a revealing look at the hysteria that surrounded the Dixie Chicks in 2003 after lead singer Natalie Maines took a very brief jab at President George W. Bush in London on the first night of a worldwide concert tour. The new documentary follows the band through the conclusion of that tour, the recording of their next album two years later, and how those seemingly offhanded words wound up changing their careers in between, as well as shifting their fan base far, far to the North.

I'll confess I didn't know much about the Dixie Chicks in March 2003, apart from their inescapable cover of "Landslide". However, I spent a lot of time that month driving around the East Coast south of the Mason-Dixon line, listening to talk radio and seeking (what proved to be false) justification for the U.S. invasion of Iraq. I heard first-hand a lot of the venom being directed at the group through talk radio and the right-wing blog-o-sphere. "Shut Up & Sing" shows the actual concert footage at which Maines spoke her now-infamous two anti-war sentences, and the resulting furore seems more attributable to the power of right-wing media than to anything intrinsically offensive in what Maines said.

"Shut Up & Sing" is told in cinema verite style. There's no narrator, and most of the action unfolds in overheard conversations between the band, their manager, studio engineers, corporate sponsors, and publicists. The movie jumps back and forth several times between the parallel storylines of the 2003 media frenzy and the 2005 recording of their follow-up album. In the Upper West Side theater where I saw the movie, the greatest applause was reserved for Maines' spontaneous cursing out of the President following his ill-chosen words during a Tom Brokaw interview she sees on TV. Also fascinating is a visit to producer Rick Rubin's house as the Chicks try to tease out a new musical direction for their next album following their abandonment by the country radio format. Rubin inadvertently steals the movie for that one scene. Are those rosary beads he was clutching?

The film's structure works quite well, as we see the group struggling in equal measures with recording a new album in a new genre, and dealing with the unwanted attention following the media frenzy. It might help to know more about the Dixie Chicks before going on; I learned more about them on Wikipedia after the movie than I did in the theater. Obviously that caution won't be necessary in most of the country, but I live in a city without a country radio station. The movie's ending is bittersweet, with some band members questioning whether the struggle and its effect on their careers was worth it. By the end of the movie I came away with a greater appreciation for their characters, if not necessarily of their music itself. What happened to them was a travesty, but hopefully the new frontiers that subsequently embraced their music (Canada) will remain a strong fan base and continue to support the group.

It took just a few choice words against the President of the United States by lead singer Natalie Maines in London to land the Dixie Chicks in a lot of hot water back home in a country gearing up for a war in Iraq that its planners had no clue how it was to be won. But three years later, the times have changed, the tables have turned; and with that same President's popularity ratings in the cellar, the Chicks have since turned all the trouble they went through into a great album--and a great documentary film.

Made by veteran documentarians Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck, SHUT UP AND SING details the travails of the Chicks as they deal with the political, economic, and even life-threatening consequences of Natalie's incendiary comments, made only nine days before hostilities commenced in Iraq, and it also shows an America, particularly that part below the Mason-Dixon line, awash in the kind of blind patriotism that led to the mass crushings of Dixie Chicks CDs that had an eerie resemblance to the Beatles getting their records treated the same way after John Lennon's infamous "more popular than Jesus" statements in 1966. But we also get to see the familial side of Natalie and her bandmates Emily Robison and Martie Maguire and their significant others, and how each and every element of their lives during those three years led to the creation of their album TAKING THE LONG WAY.

While probably quite a few cynics, particularly on the far-right of the political spectrum, will demean this film as a Chicks pity party, it is nothing of the sort by any means. Nor is it merely about freedom of speech, though that element is unquestionably in there. SHUT UP AND SING, at its heart, is about the purest form of American patriotism there is--love of family; love of the best of this great nation of ours, and a willingness to realize our faults. It makes no pretenses at depicting the nasty reaction of Red-State America and the callousness of the Bush administration towards the Chicks as anything less than hypocrisy at its highest; both groups come off even worse in many ways here than they did in FAHRENHEIT 9/11, and this without Peck or Kopple ever being known as agent provocateurs like Michael Moore.

The family and musical moments of SHUT UP AND SING are also interspersed with animated conversations between the Chicks, their manager Simon Renshaw, and their album producer Rick Rubin, as well as some incendiary and blackly comic comments made by Natalie about both Bush and Cheney. All of this makes for a ferociously patriotic and all-American film about true American pride where three women from Texas stood up for what they believed in, even when it was wildly unpopular, and came out stronger from the experience. Kudos to the Chicks, Kopple, and Peck for showing us what our country can still be if we fight for what is right!

I am an American living in Canada and I saw the movie when it was released in Victoria. The movie was fabulous. It was an honest depiction of what ensued after Natalie's simple statement. What made my viewing experience even better was the cheering, clapping, and ultimately standing ovation at the theater. The Canadian crowd LOVED the movie.

I must say there were many times during this movie that I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. I took my daughter to see it (warning there are some curse words) and she really liked it. Afterward, she wondered why it was such a big deal for Natalie to make a statement. Even for a primary aged kid, she was aware of Freedom of Speech and the reaction just didn't make sense to her.

The best thing in the movie was to see how the Chicks drew strength from one antoher during this ordeal. I think that so much of the reaction to the statement was gendered. Yes, the US was going through this pseudo-patriotic time, but the ways in which the DC were attacked often was filled with sexist tropes.

I'm buying this movie as soon as it comes out and will be showing it in two of my classes. One class looks at globalization and the other is a gender and politics class. I think the nativist and xenophobic reactions by some of the "haters" will cause interesting discussion in class.

Overall, I'm hoping that more people will come to enjoy their music and respect that they stood by one another. I can't wait to see them again in concert. I'm a long time fan of the DC.

This little five foot woman makes a benign remark about Bush, and millions of rednecks go nuts! Not only did these "freedom loving" American's want to stop listening to the Dixie Chicks, they demanded that they be SILENCED. Other entertainers made far stronger statements against Bush, and his war, yet no one seemed to care.

These women who raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past for numerous American causes, were suddenly deemed female Benedict Arnold's, or even worse "Jane Fonda's," oh my!! Did I miss the part in the constitution where American;s can't be critical of the president when they are in England? What federal statute did Maines break?

The good news is that the attempt by the right wing lynch mob to put the Chicks out of business, has failed miserably. The Chicks just swept the Grammy Awards, have an album that spent several weeks at #1 last summer, and just completed a tour that in spite of initial trouble selling tickets, ended up grossing more than thirty million dollars, and being attended by over five hundred thousand fans around the world.

[...]
"Shut up and Sing" is a great documentary. Not only is it informative, it is also very funny in parts. Natalie Maines has a wicked sense of humor. Sadly, those with an axe to grind take what she says in jest and use it against her. Just look how nuts the Chicks' haters got over the "heh heh" remark at the Grammy's? Jeez folks lighten up.

When you finish this film, you will truly wonder what happened to the country that you once knew. The rabid Dixie Chicks haters clearly confused the concept of boycotting, with demanding CENSORSHIP!

"Taking the Long Way" did not win the five Grammys because of "liberal Hollywood." It was the best album of 2006. Nashville's top music critics voted it "Country Album of the Year" two weeks before the Grammy's.

Long live the Dixie Chicks. They are to free speech what Rosa Parks is to civil rights!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been a fan of the Dixie Chicks even before Natalie was the lead singer and I thought that a mountain was made out of a mole hill about Natalie's comment about Bush. When I saw this film, I was impressed with the amazing music that came about as a result of this incident. I was horrified at the way these three women were treated. Threatening their lives over a silly comment is a disgrace. The film is a gripping piece of Americana and contains humor, drama and some of the best music around. Just ask the Grammy voters. It should have been nominated for an Oscar. If you are a fan of the group, you will be more impressed, if you're not a fan, watch the film and I it will make some converts.

I saw this movie and was favorably impressed. If you liked their last album or became emotionally involved in their struggle, you will find this story compelling, moving. To watch someone read their own death threat is powerful stuff...and have the strength to push on...

This is one of the finest documentaries of this young century! It is honest, insightful, fearless, and fun. It is also loaded with family, love, anger, humor, hugs, tears and fears. If you have not seen this film, it is time. It is a wonderful testimony to three of the most talented, most honest ad most interesting musicians on the planet. You will watch this more than once and you will want to show it and even give it to family and friends. Bravo to the Dixie Chicks and to the crew who produced this marvelous work! And thank you for our freedom of expression both in words and music.

This documentary gives a true picture of the "incident" and the ridiculous termoil that followed. It really makes one wonder how people in our society can act so hateful because they disagree with the current administration. The documentary shows how much the chicks love each other, it is an unbreakable friendship. If you want to be informed of the dark, nasty side of American society and what this adminstration (along with far right extremists: i.e. fox news,[...]) has encouraged and upheld....watch this movie!!!

What a wonderful documentary to teach what freedom of speech is all about. (A teacher)
Unfortunately, I would not be allowed to show it to Elementary School students. This is the kind of movie that would only make it to a college.
However, all of our children should learn about freedom of speech and standing out for their ideas and ideals.
These wonderful women have gone through "it" and they gave birth, and sang, and did a lot more for the Universe, than many people do.
I am an adopted Texan, and I too, agree with their ideas.
Thank you Dixie Chicks for this lesson. See this movie.