It only took 46 years to see it, but this legendary concert film chronicling Aretha Franklin’s two-night stand at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church — the same 1972 shows that gave us Franklin’s classic live gospel album — was more than worth the wait. Sydney Pollack’s movie isn’t a document of a performance so much as a visual extension of the ecstasy that the singer, her collaborators and the crowd experienced; no matter how many times you’ve heard her interpretations of “Wholy Holy” or “Never Grow Old,” the sight of Franklin, eyes closed and head bowed, working her way through those numbers feels like a revelation. (Watching the choir jump up and egg Aretha on as she testifies during the title track is capable of reducing an entire theater to nothing but goosebumps and teardrops.) Witness the Queen of Soul do those stellar runs and work the audience, from everyday churchgoers to Mick Jagger, into a divine frenzy, and you’ll feel as if you’ve seen the face of God. — Rolling Stone
Co-presented with Next Chapter Records.
