'The United States vs Billie Holiday' Review: Andra Day Transforms to ‘Lady Day’ in Lee Daniels’ Best Film
The bio-pic has a powerful message about race & identity, and while the story may be decades old, it mirrors the struggles of today.
This pandemic has made us reevaluate what’s important. This new world has many of us cut off from a lot of the joys which, only a year ago, we may have taken for granted. For those of us who possess even a fragment of a creative soul, one of those joys is art, and the connections art creates. Lee Daniels’ upcoming film ‘The United States vs Billie Holiday’ is a beautiful reminder of that connection, but it reminds us of one of the true important uses of art as well.
Based off the novel by Johann Hari, The U.S. vs Billie Holiday stars Andra Day as the infamous singer as she is targeted by the Federal Department of Narcotics throughout her career. At several points, the sting-operation against Holiday was lead by Federal Agent Jimmy Fletcher (played by Moonlight’s Trevante Rhodes), one of very few African-American agents within the department, and a man with whom Holiday had a tumultuous love affair. As the story unravels, it peels back the topical layers of today’s not-so-hidden America; revealing the racism within the highest tiers of government, the witch hunts created to blame those who dare challenge the status quo, and the hurdles African-Americans who try to make a name for themselves struggled with in post-war America.
Day, in an absolutely stunning transformation, doesn’t just ‘breakthrough’ as some would call it, she shatters anything in her path. In fact, her performance is encapsulating to watch not simply because it is a brilliant portfolio of performance, where it no longer appears to be ‘acting’ , but because Day visibly embodies Billie’s tenacity and spirit. The film shows how unstoppable Holiday was, and Andra Day seems to be empowered by that energy in her role. Her vocal idiolect is uncanny, as she utilizes every tool acquired in her professional singing experience, and perfectly recreates that iconic sound for which Holiday is remembered. But the sultry-smokiness of Holiday’s voice isn’t the only aspect of the quintessential artist that Day recreates; she movies like Billie, she laughs like Billie, in fact, often one can see her think like Billie.
The film never tries to vilify the song-bird, it never shows her character flaws to be awful choices fostered by an awful person, and through Day’s performance, the audience will never have to question what Billie was thinking, even if you disagree with her choices. As has become common in a lot of these historically-inspired biopics, we see that several iconic musical artists were often plagued by unbelievable trauma. It shows that aforementioned connection to their music and how being on stage and voicing that pain is arguably the greatest way to cope. It is only ‘arguably’, because another commonality is many of these artists like Johnny Cash or Ray Charles turn to hard drugs, as did Billie. Day not only carries the bulk of the screen time of the film, but when playing Billie, she carries a lot of the figure’s inner demons, and even when the character is at peace, one can see how she’s inwardly and constantly on edge. Day carries Billie’s emotional load, as she deals with homophobia, judgment about her lifestyle, her love life, her race and her womanhood.
If it weren’t for that strong performance, if the audience didn’t understand or sympathize with that frustration, then this could have easily been a one-note cautionary tale; a film about how drugs can ruin a person’s life. But it is because of this constant struggle that we root for Billie, even though she doesn’t always make the decisions that would give her the easiest path in life. One of the strongest aspects of The U.S. vs Billie Holiday is showing what a fighter Lady Day really was. It begins with informing the audience about how anti-lynching laws weren’t passed decades ago, even though it could mean saving the lives of Black-Americans. This inspired Billie to write her perennial ‘Strange Fruit’, a compelling song full of spirituous and haunting imagery. This song seemingly continues to inspire artists almost 70 years later, as was seemingly the case with director Lee Daniels’ and screenwriter Suzan Lori Parks. The poetry and power of Day’s lyrics can be heard in Parks’ script, and there several cinematic sequences from Daniels, such as drug induced fever dreams that will floor any audience member, anchoring them to some of the unmentionable horrors that have befallen Black-Americans.
The deft touch that Daniels shows in his storytelling has not been seen at this level in his other films. This film is never preachy, its important narrative is only a subplot in a much richer tapestry, but that narrative about African-American identity comes to the forefront because of Billie’s struggles and the enemies she’s burdened with. Politicians are threatened by ‘Strange Fruit’, and ultimately what Day stands for, and a large portion of powerful White Men did not want her to perform that song ever again. Of course... She did. As the film will inspire the audience, it must have had a similar effect on the cast, as it was evident everyone was behind the central message. To know what a struggle it was for Day to just perform a song, to open the hearts of her audience members to the atrocities happening, is a fight everyone can easily get behind. It is interesting to think about what Holiday would have said today if someone on Twitter told her to just ‘shut up and sing’ as many conservatives would suggest artists do. To be successful, to be a powerful black woman with not just a beautiful voice, but a powerful political one is astounding. The irony being that the film itself had narrative threads of how successful African-Americans (especially at the time) often have to step over others in their community in order to be successful, but the entire cast was so giving and supportive of one another, the story unfolded extremely naturally.
The only aspect which did not fit with the seamlessness of the majority of the film, was the performance of Garrett Hedlund (Tron: Legacy) as Harry Anslinger, the United States government official who served as the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics during the presidencies of Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy. Hedlund would often gravitate towards caricature, which perhaps reflects the last four years of American politics, how powerful White men never hide their power or their whiteness, but when compared to the tremendously intrinsic performances, like Day’s, Hedlund made too much of a splash on screen.
This is balanced by Trevante Rhodes’ performance as Agent Fletcher. His story, and his character from the start of the film is a perfect companion piece to Day’s Billie. Agent Fletcher also has to struggle with his identity; struggling with either taking the easy path, or fighting for what’s right. He too, had to often go against his own heart, and Rhodes and Day’s chemistry was amazing. Parks’ script is so well balanced, that each characters’ contribution to what could have been merely a bio pic is crucial. No one is superlative. No character (completely) out of place, and no one on a different page, whether than be literal or figurative. After watching the film you understand why Parks was the first Black woman ever to win a Pulitzer for her writing. Even a character that stuck out for the wrong reasons, such as Anslinger became an important reexamination of history, and who we revere as heroes.
The real ‘hero’ is the rare trifecta of a director at his best, an award winning writer with a voice as strong as Holidays’, and a cast who all understand the films’ importance. Whether you are a fan of Holiday’s music or not, is irrelevant. This story, and her struggle comes at a time where many need to be awakened to the fact that this is still happening. This struggle to find equality and identity is real. So too, are the heroes that step up and voice that struggle.