The concert documentary presents a unique experience for filmmakers and viewers alike. In most cases, it puts the director and audience in the same chair: a reactive one. With no screenplay to speak of, it is usually the director's job to capture the story rather than tell it, with the movie's subject, the band, doing most of the narrative work. The goal is to capture a defining moment in an artist's career, one worth committing to the library of film history. But what happens when the subject doesn't have much to say?
First-time feature directors Patrick Paulson and Michael John Warren seemingly have the perfect opportunity with Fade to Black, their account of a sold-out "retirement" show at Madison Square Garden in November 2003 by hip-hop superstar Jay-Z. That Jay-Z (born Shawn Carter) has subsequently put out another album and embarked on another tour is apparently of no concern. The real problem, though, is that while Jay-Z has nothing terribly original to articulate, the directors have nothing to add.
So how was the concert? According to the hype-filled press packets and Jay-Z himself, it was a once-in-a-lifetime event that also provided an "intimate" portrait of the artist and insight into his methods. According to what's on screen, it was much ado about nothing.
While there is some ugly video of the recording of The Black Album interspersed with the live footage, demonstrating Jay-Z's methods, there is nothing that sheds any insight into him as a person. It's quite frustrating to spend two hours with someone you know nothing about, only to realize afterwards you haven't learned anything new.
If the documentary has any informative value, it's in the scenes that show Jay-Z making the album. The steps that go into producing a hip-hop record were something I knew nothing about, and I found the process to be interesting. Unfortunately for the rest of the film, Paulson and Warren are content to let Jay-Z's misogynistic lyrics do the talking.
If you are a hip-hop or Jay-Z fan, feel free to add a notch or two to my star rating. You might find the concert enjoyable, so long as you don't care about the movie.