|
 "This is me with nothing," Lady Gaga says in
the film.
The Netflix documentary, which had its world premiere at the
Toronto International Film Festival on Friday, follows Lady Gaga
over an eight-month period leading up to her Super Bowl Halftime
performance in February 2017.
It's an intimate and often raw look at the real Lady Gaga,
Stefani Joanne Germanotta, roughly a decade after she exploded
into the pop culture scene with her debut, "Just Dance".
Moukarbel said the film was a rare opportunity to shine a light
on a story that people thought they were already familiar with,
describing the singer as powerful, yet vulnerable.
He told audiences after the premiere that the biggest challenge
to filming Gaga's life was "how to narrow the scope when it's
about somebody whose life is so big and vast."
"With her life, it's just like this daily whiplash which she's
experiencing, as you saw, and I tried to capture that."
The film depicts that "whiplash", juxtaposing the public Lady
Gaga with the personal Germanotta.
An interview with the New York Times about her new single
"Joanne" is book-ended by a call from a dying friend, Sonja
Durham, and an emotional visit to her grandmother, who listens
to her new song about her aunt Joanne for the first time.
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Durham passed away earlier this year and the film is dedicated to
her memory.
Lady Gaga, who performed a ballad version of "Bad Romance" before
the film screening, watched the documentary for the first time on
Friday.
"I was very overwhelmed watching it," she told audiences afterwards,
calling the film an authentic look at her life.
One moment she is elegantly turned out for a christening, surrounded
by family, another moment she is wrapped in a towel, crying from the
chronic pain that resulted from a hip fracture several years ago.
In the film, Lady Gaga's vulnerabilities are on display: the
depression and trauma caused by the hip injury, reflections on her
self-image, being alone, turning 30, her dealings with men.
But she also talks extensively about finding empowerment and
validation from within, as well as the power and influence of music
on her life.
"Sometimes it's like open heart surgery, making music. It's
invasive."
(Reporting by Solarina Ho; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
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