The Apollo

Apr 24, 2019

1h 38m

★ 6.5

The soul of the American culture

Overview

The history of New York City's Apollo Theater in Harlem is given the full treatment.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

Bert Marcus Productions

Chicago Media Project

White Horse Pictures

HBO

HBO Documentary Films

Impact Partners

MACRO

The Apollo Trailers

Cast

Self

Pharrell Williams

Self

Jamie Foxx

Self

Patti LaBelle

Self

Smokey Robinson

Self

Angela Bassett

Self (archive footage)

James Brown

Self (archive footage)

Duke Ellington

Self (archive footage)

Ella Fitzgerald

Self (archive footage)

Redd Foxx

Self (archive footage)

Aretha Franklin

Self (archive footage)

Lauryn Hill

Self (archive footage)

Billie Holiday

A family portrait in which the director profiles his grandmother, Odette Robert. Eustache includes in the film the conditions of its production — he is seated at the table with her, pours her some whiskey, speaks with the camera operator, manipulates the clapboard at the head and tail of the reels, and even takes a phone call. Robert, who was seventy-one, speaks rapidly and tells the story of her life, starting from her early childhood in villages in the Bordeaux region of France. A shorter version of the film ("Odette Robert") was edited in 1980 to be broadcast on television on TF1. The complete film only gained exposure in 2002, when it was salvaged by Boris Eustache, Thierry Lounas, João Bénard da Costa, Jean-Marie Straub, and Pedro Costa.

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