Nina (2016)

Purely Joyful Movie!

Best movie of this year hands down!

Admirable film.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

This is a biography of Nina Simone, alcoholic, drug user and occasional singer by this biopic. The film opens in 1946 at age 13 she gives a recital. Her name was not Nina (Zoe Saldana) at that time. She had changed it so her family would not be embarrassed by her profession. The film picks up later after she tries to shoot a man in 1985, not 1995 as the film wrongly states. It moves forward with her struggle with alcohol and relationship with Clifton (David Oyelowo) with minor flashbacks.The acting was great, unfortunately the editing and script left much to be desired. It concentrated too much on her demons and little to nothing on her music. One would argue that was in intent, but they missed an opportunity to make a truly entertaining film.Guide: F-word. Implied sex. Minor rear nudity.

This movie is worthwhile watching. If not for its story, at least for Zoe Saldana's magical performance. She is truly a talented woman. So what if the story is from the perspective of Cynthia Mort. Ignore all the negative reviews it has received so far. This movie was very enjoyable.David Oyelowo had a good convincing performance. Although it was a bit odd that he was in a movie that referred to Martin Luther King Jr. We don't see Mr. King in the movie, but he was an important figure in Nina Simone's life.I especially enjoyed the last two scenes in the movie. Very touching and a well prepared climax. Saladan's singing was astonishingly good.

Nina delivers, with some awesome music. Did it capture Nina's spirit accurately? I don't know, but this film inspired me, unlike most Hollywood tripe these days. It's a simple script about two people who revere each other in an almost supernatural way, sometimes parent/child, sometimes sibling. This is a movie about spiritual struggle and expression of that struggle through music, and is not suitable for children. But it's honest, and whether or not it was true to Nina Simone's spirit, I don't know. But Zoe Saldana is, perhaps, her own elemental force, with a sense for rhythm that is genius and gentle and lots of good things. This movie has some stirring music that is never unpleasant to listen to, and, at times, is a bit sparse. Is the movie true, at least, in it's message that our personal salvation is found in how we love one another? More directly, I thought that this movie directed our attention away from racism towards social taboos against relationships that are none of the above.

Nina Simone was a huge public figure in the black civil rights movement and one of the most popular jazz musicians of all time. She remains to this day very influential and unique. This film managed to capture none of it. It decides to focus entirely on her romantic relationship with her assistant during the last years of her life and - even though it does address her mental health issues and her problems with showbiz - it briefly skims over all the good and important influence she had over culture and music. Zoe Saldana may have been able to pull off her demeanour while in daily life, however her 'on stage' performances were underwhelming. I don't have a problem with her doing her own singing while impersonation an actual person, because a voice-over would probably not have worked well, however, Zoe's auto-tuned performance failed to capture the spirituality, strength and powerful presence that Nina had. Obviously, no one can be as good a Nina as Nina was, but if I didn't know who Nina Simone was before this movie, I certainly would not have cared about her afterwards. Overall, I was not impressed by this film's portrayal of Nina's life, her music and her importance in history. If you want a better portrayal of Nina, watch What Happened, Miss Simone (her documentary) or listen to her actual music.