It has not been a different life than the other 27's. It has not been a different life than other real stars. Filmin structure was not good. I guess they did it without much effort. He did not elaborate after Janis's death. No special music was made for the film. I did not like your director very much. The film has not succeeded in dramatic places as well. It was not nice without Janis. There was an air of sadness. Although a girl who was excluded in her childhood and adolescence was given a nice star, she had not been given any details when necessary.

This touching, intimate documentary chronicles the life of legendary singer Janis Joplin, from her childhood in Port Arthur to her untimely death, as told by her surviving family members, friends, lovers, associates, peers, and by Joplin herself, through personal letters and notes.When Don McLean talks of the "girl who sang the blues" in his seminal song American Pie, it is Janis he references. We see that smile of hers, so full of life, passion and joy. We also see the many faces of her sadness, that bewitching, heartbreaking pain that fed her powerful, inimitable voice.This documentary takes us beyond the music, although Janis was pure music. It is the medium that drove her to like-minded spirits, to someplace she could truly feel herself at home. It led her to recognition, adulation, success. She never seems as alive as when she is on stage.We see how she got there, her ups and downs, the loneliness, self-doubts, the need for an acceptance that may have never really come, especially from herself. Along with the music, the alcohol is also there, as are the drugs. A life lived on the edge, despair never fully going away.I would have liked a little more time to go even more in-depth, peel the layers even more and get closer still to Janis, that little girl blue with the harrowing, unforgettable voice. It is still a wonderful, moving trip to a time, a woman, a soul who remains, in many ways, untouchable.(+) A wonderful retrospective that will tell you who was Janis Joplin, converting newcomers and thrilling long-time fans.(-) More time could have been spent engrossing the story, showing more of the different sides of this haunted, incredible singer.

I found this documentary on Netflix streaming. Janis Joplin and I are contemporaries, she grew up in a conservative home in Port Arthur, Texas. At that same time I often visited my aunt in Port Arthur. Janis and I could have run into each other as kids, but we probably didn't.When you see some of the interviews with Janis you can only conclude that she was very smart and had a gift for analyzing things and presenting her ideas. Most very gifted artists, musicians, singers are very intelligent, it is part of the package. But Janis was a mediocre student in high school and was a misfit of sorts, a kind soul who couldn't or didn't want to conform. But all she ever wanted was to be accepted and loved.Perhaps her lowest point was when she went to U of Texas and she was not only nominated for the prank contest "Ugliest Man on Campus" she was voted the winner. Shortly after she left Texas and ended up in San Francisco where she found people like her. She really had no idea at first that her singing was very special but she soon became famous and things were written like "The most important new voice since Aretha Franklin." In truth I never cared for Janis Joplin's singing, too raspy and too much shouting. But there is no doubt she moved audiences and when she was in the mood had a very lovely and soft lyrical style. Her demise was a result of having absolutely no clue what to do with herself when not recording or performing. It was her life and it was just one more heroin fix in her room after a performance that cut her short in 1970 at the young age of 27.This is a superb documentary, one of the very best I have ever watched. There is much footage of Janis herself, and close-ups during performances almost bring you into her intimate world. It also has input from her brother and sister, some old friends, and some old band mates.The film is narrated by actress Cat Power who often reads from letters Janis ad written to others and it is almost like hearing Janis herself.

Viewed at 2015 Venice Film Festival., "Janis, Little Girl Blue" by Amy Berg, With Alex Gibney, himself an outstanding documentarian acting as producer, is a Great Doc about a great American singer, Janis Joplin, who died too young on the verge of salvation. Interviews with parents, sister, brother, surviving members of The Grateful Dead, Kris Kristofferson, and most surprising, Dick Cavett (1970). In a year of many good documentaries, this was the best of all -- a marvelous reconstruction of a tragic young life. Janis sang the blues with such conviction and such black feeling that even afro-Americans though she was black -- She died on October 4, 1970 in a Hollywood motel of an accidental heroin overdose at age 27 -- only two weeks after another rock legend, Jimi Hendrix, also at age 27. The film traces her life from humble origins in the nondescript north Texas town of Port Arthur, constant humiliation by her schoolmates because of her extreme nonconformity and relatively plain looks, up through her rise to prominence as the lead singer of the acid/rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company --one of the leading San Francisco rock groups of the mid sixties -- reaching the pinnacle when recognized as the top white blues singer of the age, her difficulties dealing with fame, her loneliness in the midst of adoring crowds, her battle with drug addiction, and finally her tragic early death on the verge of even wider fame and general acceptance by the serious music world. Needless to say, the film is liberally spiced with clips from her amazing stage appearances, which is an added enrichment, but this is far from a mere excuse to present her songs -- far more a penetrating probe into the life of an extremely complex personality ---a true artist who became the victim of her own profound talent. Myself more or less a product of the psychedelic sixties, I left the vast Venice theater thoroughly emotionally drained and realizing I had just witnessed a remarkable film about a most remarkable life. Alex, Budapest