Whitney - Can I Be Me

She was THE female superstar of the 80s and 90s, with a truly divine voice and the smile of an angel: Right with her first album in 1985, Whitney Houston became one of the most famous and successful pop stars in the world. Millions of records sold and countless awards later, she reached the pinnacle of her career in 1992 with the lead role in the movie Bodyguard and the accompanying soundtrack. The single I will always love you became her biggest hit and is still one of the most successful singles of all time. Nothing seemed to stand in the way of her career. But shortly after this triumph came the deep fall: the marriage with Bobby Brown, shaken by scandals, musical failures, alcohol and drugs determined from then on the life of the diva. She tried to get out of this low and to make a comeback - but she just didn't want to succeed. At only 48 years old, the exceptional singer died in 2012 in the bathtub of a hotel.

Five years after her far too early death, the moving documentary Whitney - Can I Be Me is now coming to cinemas. Using a lot of partly unreleased footage and numerous interviews with companions, employees and colleagues, filmmakers Nick Broomfield and Rudi Dolezal here trace Whitney Houston's path to the top and her deep fall into loneliness and addiction. The result is extremely poignant and conveys the full tragedy behind Whitney Houston's life story after just a few moments.

You really have to commend the makers for resisting the temptation to make it all too lurid. Whitney Houston is not being exposed here. She is, however, shown from a side that remained hidden from her fans for a very long time - and that many didn't want to see even when it could no longer be hidden. There are moments when you could almost cry, such as when you see how her daughter Bobby Kristina was swept into the downward spiral at a very early age, which also brought her far too early death just a few years after her mother. Knowing what fate awaits them both, the brief snapshots showing mother and daughter happily together are truly heartbreaking.

Whitney - Can I Be Me is more than just a tragic portrait of a truly exceptional artist. It is also an unvarnished look behind the glamorous facade of show business. The film shows that a person who you'd think would have everything to be happy - talent, success, wealth, beauty - can be extremely lonely, full of self-doubt and inner demons. A really great, albeit very sad, documentary that makes it clear once again what a great artist Whitney Houston was before scandals and drugs destroyed her career and eventually her life. Absolutely worth seeing

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp