Over the last couple of years, we’ve been treated to several George Michael-focused features; from the posthumous Michael co-directed George Michael: Freedom Uncut to this year’s Netflix Wham! documentary. Here’s another chronicle of the pop icon from director Simon Napier-Bell who manages to peel away the gloss and offer a different angle.
George Michael: Portrait of an Artist starts at the beginning: the Wham! years, where two school friends met and formed what would become one of the biggest bands of their time. Napier-Bell quickly moves quickly through the period, though still covers the bullet points up to Michael’s rise through the industry and ultimately away from Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgely. We quickly move on to the early solo years, through the ‘divorce’ from his record label and onto David Geffen’s, and then through the tragic latter years when the documentary really comes into its own.
The ‘narrative’ is told entirely through talking heads – away from the big names, save Stevie Wonder who appears occasionally via a Zoom interview – the filmmakers presenting industry figures and former collaborators, to psychotherapists and even broadcasters who interviewed Michael over the years (specifically Piers Morgan and yes, even Richard Madeley). There’s also Vaughan Arnell, one of Britain’s most prolific and talented music video directors, a welcome addition to the proceedings. It is the choice to use these people, rather than the likes of the higher profile friends and peers, and the unpolished showbiz shine editing in grainy archive footage and YouTube clips that makes this stand out from the other docs on the same subject. There is a personal touch to the film – Napier-Bell managed Wham! back in the eighties as well – and as the feature approaches its final third, exposes the darker side of the artist which previous works shied more away from.
Related: Watch the trailer for the music documentary event of the year; ‘WHAM!’
A worthy addition to the canon of Michael docs – and I’ve seen them all. This offers an unflinching look at an icon through the unfiltered lens of insiders who knew him through the highs and indeed lows of his short life.
The Blu-ray and DVD collector’s editions exclusively include a 50-minute interview with Simon Napier-Bell about his working relationship with George Michael via a Zoom interview, plus a box-size 44-page booklet accompanying the film, with additional written content from some of the talking heads seen in the film.
George Michael: Portrait of an Artist is available on DVD and Blu-ray now.
George Michael: Portrait of an Artist
Summary
A more raw documentary than other offerings; one that offers a different slant on the life of a pop icon.
