The Mayo News

An inconvenient death?


Fergal Rock

On October 28, Michael Jackson’s ‘This Is It’ was released to a worldwide audience for a limited two-week theatrical run. The film’s release has, however, already been extended in certain regions and could continue to play for a further three weeks beyond its original close date.
A DVD of the film had been slated for pre-Christmas distribution, but Sony Pictures, apparently bowing to cinema owners’ concerns that such a rushed release would adversely affect ticket sales, have agreed to reschedule for early next year.
A wise decision, given that ‘This Is It’ is now reportedly the highest-grossing concert film of all time. Although, technically it is not a concert film at all – merely a dress rehearsal. This is of little concern to Sony, however, who plan to promote the film for Oscar contention in the Best Picture category (the submission date for Best Documentary has already passed).
Paddy Power this week even gave the film odds of 7/4 to be nominated for Best Picture and 6/1 to win. It seems unlikely, but then this is Michael Jackson we’re talking about. A two-disc soundtrack for the film was also released last week and promptly rocketed to the top of the Billboard charts, selling over 373,000 copies. As posthumous career moves go, even the late rapper Tupac Shakur would have cause to feel humbled.
So is ‘This Is It’ (Produced and directed by Jackson’s ‘creative partner’ Kenny Ortega) a fitting tribute to the late King of Pop’s legacy?
The official website advertises it as a ‘rare, behind the scenes look at (Michael Jackson) as he developed, created and rehearsed for his sold-out concerts’. However, in reality, it comes across as something cobbled together from 120 hours of footage shot without any real sense of motive or direction. In an ideal world, Michael Jackson would still be with us and, by now, midway through his 50 dates in the O2 Arena in London, and this film would be a DVD extra on the actual ‘This Is It’ concert film.
Watching Ortega’s film now, it’s hard to shake the sense that Michael Jackson’s untimely passing – just three weeks shy of the opening night of his comeback tour – has inconvenienced a lot of people; people who clearly invested a great deal of time and money.
There are long periods where the film resembles less a cinematic spectacle and more the kind of boardroom presentation designed to convince insurers and investors that Jackson was indeed in good health and that things were, contrary to rumour, running smoothly.
It is not surprising then that the internet protest site ‘This Is Not It’ has accused the filmmakers of failing to show the real Jackson (said to be suffering from chronic ill-health at the time).
Given that controversy has dogged Jackson throughout his career, it’s curious that ‘This Is It’ has absolutely no point-of-view. In contrast to the occasional glimpse of lavish set design or pyrotechnics, it is remarkably understated, as though afraid (perhaps with good legal grounds) to make any comment whatsoever. The film doesn’t even comment on the singer’s death, all of which gives it the distinctive look and feel of a teaser-trailer for a concert that will never be or an hour-long MTV Special (to which the material would have been better served).
In truth ‘This Is It’ isn’t a film, musical or documentary but rather an extended montage, a highlights package, a Best of What Might Have Been. 
The newly-filmed segments for ‘Smooth Criminal’ and ‘Thriller’ suggest Jackson’s comeback tour would have been every bit as spectacular as hoped, and the star himself, though thin, looks focused and committed.
At 50, his voice has naturally weakened and the moves are a little sluggish, but he can still dance – and this, after all, is just the rehearsal. His respect for the audience (even if it is just a bunch of over-emotional backing dancers) is evident throughout, and there are flashes of personality, such as his Lyre Bird-like mimicking of a bass line, that are entirely at odds with that caricatured and self-perpetuated in the press for the past two decades.
Jackson emerges from the film with a rare sense of dignity, something he’ll soon be robbed of when Sky 1 broadcasts ‘Michael Jackson: The Live Séance’ on Friday night. And here-in lies the Jackson dichotomy: On one hand, you have the creator of the Moonwalk and such enduring classics as ‘Thriller’, ‘Bad’ and ‘Billie Jean’, and on the other, a modern day Elephant-man, to be poked and picked over even in death.
Perhaps in time, interest in the latter will wane and the King of Pop will instead be remembered for his musical legacy – although I’m not sure Paddy Power would quote you odds on that just yet.

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