Broken English, Buurtcinema

Documentary about the inimitable singer, songwriter, and icon Marianne Faithfull. As a survivor, provocateur, and truly original person, Marianne has defied expectations for over six decades – releasing more than thirty-five albums and constantly reinventing herself. “Broken English”, made with her full cooperation, is an exploration of a broken life shaped by fame, creativity, and relentless public attention.. The common thread and backbone of the film is an interview with Marianne Faithfull by actor George MacKay. There is a clear click between the 33-year-old MacKay and the 78-year-old Faithfull, who starts the interview shaky but proud and without aids, but after the first question says: 'I need my oxygen tank, sorry.' The rest of the interview she will finish with a tube in her nose. MacKay confronts Faithfull with often obscure archival footage and audio recordings from her career – interviews, live recordings, headlines, and articles – and her reactions to them show that at 78 she has lost none of her alertness. When asked, after viewing a clip from ‘Don’t Look Back’ – a documentary by D. A. Pennebaker about an English tour of Bob Dylan in 1965 – whether she was aware in Swinging London that she was part of something special, she says: ‘I can't see into the future, but I knew something was happening.’ After which she seamlessly follows it up with a quote from Dylan's ‘Ballad of a Thin Man’: ‘But you don’t know what it is, do you, Mister Jones?’ Directed by Jane Pollard, Iain Forsyth and featuring Nick Cave and Tilda Swinton, among others. Genre: music docu Duration: 96’