The 60s rock legend gets a career-spanning portrait in the form an unconventional hybrid doc by filmmaker duo Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard.
Marianne Faithfull died in January 2025 before Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard’s documentary about the singer and actor had finished filming. It’s a captivating tribute that shares the same title as Faithfull’s 1979 comeback album. The directors, who are known to experiment with form, once again attempt to reinvent the rock documentary with a novel framing device. The audience is introduced to an Orwellian-style office called The Ministry of Not Forgetting, which is headed up by Overseer, Tilda Swinton. George MacKay is the Record Keeper, in charge of interrogating Faithfull, and she very candidly speaks about her life in her own words in order to decipher the gulf between who she really was and how she was marketed. Swinton lists Faithfull’s many achievements before rolling her eyes and letting out expletives at how some of the world may only remember her as Mick Jagger’s ex-girlfriend.
Dressed in a sharp suit with an oxygen tube attached to her face, Faithfull is a magnetic and intelligent presence, with a twinkle in her eye. Her conversation topics with MacKay veer between thrilling, enchanting and devastatingly sad, as does the archive footage and interviews the directors have chosen to use. Like many recent documentaries that follow a Gogglebox-like format, we are shown reactions to clips from the past. Unlike the recent disappointing Bowie: The Final Act, instead of using talking heads for conjecture and opinion, it is Faithfull herself who is filmed admiring and lamenting her life. That is what sets this documentary apart as it delicately crafts intimate moments that allow you to share in her joy and pain.
In between all the tenderness are contrived sequences including a Debate Room where numerous women, including musician Bat for Lashes and DJ and presenter Edith Bowman, discuss the misogynistic side of fame and tabloid hounds. Zawe Ashton and Sophia Di Martino are researchers who are piecing it all together for those who aren’t properly paying attention, and Portishead’s Adrian Utley and Rob Ellis (who both composed the score) are shown playing around in the recording studio. Cutting away to these scenes occasionally distracts, but when special guests such as Beth Orton, Courtney Love, Suki Waterhouse and Thurston Moore are given space to perform Faithfull’s songs in full, a powerful magic re-enters the room. The film ends on a similarly high yet bittersweet note as the audience is ushered into Faithfull’s final performance. It’s incredibly moving to watch her singing ‘Misunderstanding’ with Nick Cave and Warren Ellis in a moment that feels like a true celebration of her talent and legacy.
