• Release year: 2023
• Director: Matthew Heineman.
• Producers: Lauren Domino, Matthew Heineman and Joedan Okun.
• Cinematographer: Tony Hardmon, Matthew Heineman, Clair Popkin and Thorsten Thielow.
• Music by: Jon Batiste.

Shotgun Commentary: average documentary with incredible music.

Review

American Symphony follows the preparation period of Jon Batiste for his performance at Carnage Hall. During this moment in time, while he is winning many Grammys and performing everywhere, his wife Suleika has cancer again and needs a bone marrow transplant. The contrast between these two parts of his life are the foundation for the development of the documentary.

Weak beginning

The first twenty minutes are quite advertisement-like. They give you some background about who Batiste is and his achievements, along with showing some casual-ish scenes with his partner. The effect is a combination of video résumé and Keeping up with the Batistes.

Luckily, the actual point of interest of the documentary is presented soon after, thus avoiding a complete loss of attentiveness.

Clear target audience

Throughout the piece, you are brought along with Jon to taste a bit of what his life looks like during the most intense moments. You see his faith, part of his sessions with a psychologist, his professional and artistic personas, and how he deals with tragedy.

This brings you closer to him and provides the opportunity to know the person behind the celebrity. While it is not the most shocking or informative of documentaries, Batiste’s fans will certainly enjoy the content as well as the music accompanying it.

Art in the spotlight

The main protagonist of the film is not Jon or his wife, but music and art. Musical compositions, snippets, and songs are played as a conduit that takes you through the footage of images. This transforms as pretty average documentary into an experience worth having. It adds emotion and depth to an otherwise standard content.

As for Suleika, art gets her through one of the toughest moments a person can live, the return of cancer in one’s body. She goes through a horrible journey mostly alone due to her husband’s demanding job, but instead of drowning, she grabs onto art to survive.

With blurry vision, instead of writing or playing music, she decides to give a chance to drawing. She draws wild, free animals to keep from getting sad, and it works quite well judging by the end of the film. Her use of art as a lifesaving float is inspiring and beautiful. This occupation, along with her strength and perseverance, make her invincible. A true example of survival.

In comparison, Jon’s endeavour of making music to heal people feels a lot less intense. While there is a clear connection between both of their journeys and art, putting them at the same level would be unfair. Nevertheless, they both come out victors in their struggles, or at least you can imagine so, since Jon’s story doesn’t really have a conclusion.

Weak conclusion

The spectators know that Suleika beats cancer and that, while it won’t be an easy life, she is determined to keep fighting for it. However, Jon’s ending is absolutely anticlimactic. The work is called American Symphony, the storyline builds up to the exhibition of the homonymous song at Carnage Hall. Yet, when the work has barely begun, the documentary ends.

This is the cinematic version of feeling like you are going to sneeze and then lose it at the last second. It makes you feel like all the previous content was pointless, like you just wasted almost two hours of your life. Granted, a few, gorgeous parts are shown, but not nearly enough to satisfy the anticipation built by the previous footage. Nine minutes out of a forty-minute creation is a tasteless joke that makes the title of American Symphony feel like a lie.

Advice to take from this movie:

• If you name a documentary after something, make sure you include that something successfully.
• Cancer is a mental battle as much as it is a physical one.
• No amount of Grammys will change the inevitable in life.

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