Customer Reviews

Marianne Faithfull - Dreaming My Dreams

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Viewers unfamiliar with Marianne Faithfull may wonder what all the fuss is about: her voice seems like a ruin, and her songs a gothic landscape of unfulfilled longing. Yet it's just these qualities that her long-time fans find redeem her pop-star past. The DVD doesn't add anything to explain this appeal (you either enjoy Marianne's voice and songs, or you find them inexplicable) but it does trace a line from past to present with a directness that even Marianne finds astonishing in the telling: how did I get here from there?

It's an old twist on the celebrity tale when Ms. Faithfull -- after being at the center of the cultural '60s storm, thanks in part to the Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham -- admits that "what I'd really like would have been a nice suburban life." You can take that remark at face value, or it can serve as the ultimate cautionary tale of wretched excess survived, from the co-writer of "Sister Morphine."

The bonus concert footage is from her appearance on "Sessions at West 54th" (2000), a summation of Marianne's recording career at the time, and her full-length interview is intercut with archival footage from the mid-sixties and parts of the concert at St. Ann's Church in NYC that make up her live album, "Blazing Away." If there's a fault to this production, it seems somewhat short at sixty minutes (the added concert footage does, however, stretch it to an hour-and-a-half): her '90s history seems a bit rushed, and there's Keith Richards to sit for an interview about Marianne and yet just two brief quotes, although great ones. The DVD is a good look at the flip-side of rock stardom and a showcase for Marianne's extraordinary career.

This is an excellent documentary of a legend in her own time. Friends and family talk about Marianne's rise to fame in the 60s and her decline. Vintage clips of the young star singing and in interviews show a lovely young girl who was so animated and beautiful. Faithfull herself in interviewed and is frank and honest about her rise to fame. Her husband, Nicholas Dunbar, also talks about Marianne and his need to take their son from her due to her decline into drug addiction. Keith Richards, Anita Pallenberg, and Beverly Mayal speak about the drug busts while Marianne was with Mick Jagger and there is plenty of input from Faithfull and film clips. Marianne's return to music and creativity is an intriguing part of the documentary. Finely paced and indepth look at one of the most intriguing female artists to emerge from the 1960s who is more fascinating today than ever before. One need not be a Marianne Faithfull fan to enjoy this well produced documentary which takes us from a most unusual childhood to a woman who is well in charge of her artistic talents. This video ends with a special treat of a few songs performed in concert this year. I highly recommend this video as I was glued to the screen.

This documentary is a budget re-release of the 2000 DVD of the same name. It has the same documentary material, but the 30-minute bonus music track has been stripped out. Oddly--or misleadingly--the songs are still listed on the back of the keep case.

Have a passion for music? Buy this. Now. Be it Kurt Weill or John Cale? Buy this. Now. Eternal gratitude to Image for putting this out and Amazon for accessing it. WARNING, CLICHE FOLLOWS (but it is true): One of the most personal and intense singers, one of the best songwriters, and one of the most facinating celebrities (these are generally conflicting things) of the latter half of the 20th century, Marianne Faithfull and the filmmakers brought her history and her art to my home. If you share these passions, you will click and let them be brought to yours.

Beyond her history with drugs and Mick Jagger I knew very little about Marianne Faithfull before seeing this DVD. Especially not her early history-her odd family life,acedemic upbringing and her own beginnings as an english pop singer. But throughout the whole thing I kept asking myself:Marianne obviously has a very passionate voice and a distinct (if sometimes eccentric) personality and why at the very cusp of pop stardom in the mid 1960's she chose voluntarily to submit herself to a life of sex,drugs and rock n' roll. Her additude about this might lead one to believe she advocated and praised the heroin addiction in which she indulged. Nevertheless this DVD did paint a broad canvased portrait of her life and art (I had no idea she'd recorded "Sister Morphine" before the Stones did-shows you what I know) even if many of the interviews with Marianne herself border almost on self-therapy,even if as you watch this you begin to realize that is something that she may really need for herself. Even though it's only an hour and could've gone on a little longer-I'd have loved to see extended interviews with her,Keith Richards and her ex husband(s)perhaps this DVD is certainly a treat for the fan and a great primer for the uninitiated such as myself.

This is a dated, but interesting view from/of an ever re-inventing artist. As a documentary, there are a lot of skimmed-over and omitted areas. Nevertheless, there are always new facets to discover with Marianne, as she also re-discovers herself. Marianne has been one of my favorites, beginning with her folk singing days. Marianne has lived much of her career as an open book, which is shown in both her songs and interviews. Needless to say, the story continues on.

Marianne was not married to Nicholas Dunbar...she was married to John Dunbar. Nicholas is their son. And lucky to have been born before the Uber-Narcissist Marianne went into drug neverland.

I presume Marianne has disclosed in this video, as she did in her autobio, that she lost another child (a girl, Mick Jagger's child) due to anemia obviously caused by drugs. Her name would have been Corinna, it's said.

I have not seen this DVD so can't judge it, but just wanted to clarify the family names. It would probably bug even Marianne to see that her ex-husband was mistaken for her son.