Review: Janis: Little Girl Blue

DVD: Janis: Little Girl Blue (2015)

Janis – Little Girl Blue is a new documentary about the life and death of much loved hippie icon Janis Joplin.

Janis was the original ‘rock chick’ that blazed a trail across the cultural landscape of 1960’s America. This documentary, narrated by musician Cat Power, is told through a series of letters that Janis wrote to her friends and family over the years, as she solidified herself as an icon in the music scene and setting the standard for countless women in the music industry.

It includes nterviews with parents, sister, brother and stars such as Kris Kristofferson. Janis sang the blues with such conviction and had a voice that once heard was never forgotten. She died on October 4, 1970 in a Hollywood motel of an accidental heroin overdose at age 27 putting her into the infamous ‘27’club alongside Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison & Kurt Cobain.

The film traces her life from humble origins, up through her rise to prominence as the lead singer of the acid/rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company, her difficulties dealing with fame, her loneliness in the midst of adoring crowds, her battle with drug addiction, and finally her tragic early death on the verge of even wider fame and general acceptance by the serious music world.

I’d say a definitive film about Janis and perfect for the long-time fan and the newcomer to her music and life.

Review by Ramrod (co-host of 60 Minutes With) from a disc kindly supplied by Aim Publicity.