The Real George Michael: Portrait of an Artist (2023) User Reviews

I thought I knew this story....

[MEMangan · 10/10 · 17 July 2023]

Being the same vintage as George Michael, and knowing about the music that was the soundtrack to my young adulthood, I expected to like this trip down memory lane.

But it was very much more than that. It was a look at the backstory that explained everything about the arc of George's life and career, and the darkness you could always tell was around the edges.

I had forgotten how influential his coming out was. And I was unaware of his deliberate political provocations. I was also completely unaware of this philanthropic nature and the deliberateness of that as well.

I'm sorry that the demons won that battle for his existence--he's someone we could really count on right now in our current battles with the other demons that have been unleashed lately.

I am going to be thinking about this for a long time. It's not a story I'll be able to shake off. I'm glad I watched.

Thorough and comprehensive documentary about George Michael's unique life and career

[dakjets · 9/10 · 9 July 2023]

Finally.

It was with great interest and pleasure that I sat down to watch this documentary. Could it manage to provide new insight into George Michael's all-too-short life? Could it bring out the artist and the superstar? YES! It does.

In contrast to the documentary film George Michael himself worked on until his death (Freedom), Simon Napier-Bell takes a more thorough approach. Because here he ensures that we go through George's career and life chronologically. In terms of music and career, this will be a reminder of how insanely big a pop star George Michael became. And the reunion with the big hits makes the documentary worth watching (for that reason alone). This documentary shows and also gives new insight into the star's private life. There were great challenges and a great deal of hardship. Documentary maker Napier-Bell manages well to bring out how Michael used music to honestly share his personal challenges through music.

We will never get George Michael back. He was unique, and this film clearly shows how great he was, both as a man and as an artist. But in the same way as documentaries made about e.g. Whitney Houston and Prince, this documentary in all its horror also shows the great personal stresses of being in the limelight all the time. George Michael didn't make it easy for himself in that respect, but he was always honest and stood his ground.

Carels' Whisper and many other songs will ensure that we will remember him primarily for the music. This documentary will also ensure that new generations become better acquainted with the superstar George Michael.

Rushed. Poor Quality.

[dd-859-748921 · 5/10 · 31 July 2023]

Poor documentary. It's rushed, it contains far too many talking heads giving biased information, and the production quality is poor. I think it's the 3rd chapter of the documentary, watch the titles appear on screen-they fade in and disappear quickly and then reappear quickly. How was this not seen in production?! Barely anything was mentioned about Princess Diana or music George wrote about his mother, no mention of his musical collaboration or friendship with Elton John, and absolutely nothing was mentioned about December Song.

George Michael is a musical legend and his story deserves a more thorough and respectable documentary to capture his talent. This documentary focused more on his downfall, caused by himself, and the ugly realities of his fall from grace. Too much was crammed in, and it felt more like a cheap VH1 or A&E TV documentary rather than something of a higher caliber.

Disappointing.

Too many Academic Talking Heads!

[JonnyOneNote · 1/10 · 20 September 2023]

.... and not enough people who were actually knew personally George Michael -- where is his family, friends? Instead, you get plenty of Academic Talking Heads from some psyche dept. At some college or university or social-psych centre you've never heard of, who never met George, never talked with him, etc., but, oh, they knew exactly why he did, when he did it, etc.

The filmmakers did manage to find one person who personally worked with George in the control room, mixing and recording the songs, etc. Oh, wow, big whoop!

I am so tired of all these documentaries in the last 10 years (mostly end up on Streaming Services anyway) where people who didn't know the Subject personally just go on and on and on about why Artist did this or did that.

Actually, the best of all the recently released documentaries is the only I saw on Netflix, simply titled "Wham!" because it only deals with the Wham! Years - not George's post-Wham! Days.

In the Netflix docu, there are many interviews with people who actually knew and worked (and sang!) with George! Especially nice to see Andrew Ridgeley, showing us all those scrapbooks his mom made (and kept!) all through the "Wham!" years. It would be cool if some savvy publisher -- or even Andrew's family -- published a fascimile-sized book of all these scrapbooks. What a treat that would be!

Anyway, skip this one (please!) and that other British-TV docu that interviews neighbors et al right after George's death. ("So how did you know George?" "How did you react to his death?" and other inane questions. Lots of required camera shots of all the flowers stacked up by the home's front entance. Blah, blah, blah... Seen it all before, folks!

George Michael (and the seemingly left-behind Andrew Ridgeley) deserve better.

If a Fan Don't Watch.

[danarodley · 1/10 · 17 September 2023]

I'm am sorry, but how would a former manager know anything about George when he himself stated they had no deep conversations. All speculation on many of the troubles we knew about. Watch Freedom Uncut. Listen to his last interview. That was his words, his feelings, not speculation. As I said we know of his problems and there is no new insight here because they did not know him. As for the ex, that person lost all credibility for reasons.

Unfortunately I believe the same person that made this is now acting like an expert on another star we recently lost.

If the person making this truly respected George Michael, love his music, and keep speculation out, We know of his troubles, he had enough press harrassing him in life. He does not need it now.

A lot people talking that aren't George

[tommykocese · 4/10 · 17 September 2023]

The reality of this "documentary" is that it is in a lot of respects lazy like most documentaries these days. They are just outsiders and fringe people giving one on one quotes that don't really involve the person. The really thing that irked me was that he was like Bill Gates and wanted to give away all of the money that he earned. He is not like Bill Gates. Bill Gates isn't giving away any of his money, he's established a not for profit that will hold all of his money and grow it. That is what is whole third world country "health" business is about, growing his business and wealth for future generations. 10 Billion invested into vaccines turned into 200 Billion. Bill Gates is not giving away anything.