“The United States Vs. Billie Holiday,” is a biographical drama film about the life of the iconic jazz singer Billie Holiday, directed by Lee Daniels, and starring Grammy-nominated singer Andra Day ( “Rise Up”) in her acting debut. Based on the book Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs by Johann Hari. The film itself concentrates on the last dozen years of Holiday’s life as she’s being targeted by a government investigation due in large part to her song “Strange Fruit” after the governments failed attempt at censorship. With great use of flash backs to flesh out the story viewers are able to see Holiday’s less than perfect childhood, struggles with substances, and her professional career highlighting a performances at Carnegie Hall.
Initially set to be theatrically released by Paramount Pictures, the film was sold to Hulu in December 2020, and digitally released in the United States as of February 26, 2021. Receiving mixed reviews from critics, who praised Day’s performance but criticized the direction and screenplay as unfocused. At the 78th Golden Globe Awards, it earned nominations for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama (Day) and Best Original Song (“Tigress and Tweed”).
I can agree that Daniels careens all over the map with stylistic inconsistency and narrative dysfunction, settling for episodic electricity in the absence of a robust connective thread. As well as him leaning on the cliché of childhood trauma is followed by success and its consequences, usually including addiction and love trouble to paint the Lady as the victims. I will say that this story depicts heroine as a crutch to deal with the trauma
(Before reading any further I would like to issue a spoiler warning as I will be reviewing the film)
The film begins by placing us in New York City on May 3, 1957 as Billie Holiday (Andra Day) sits down with journalist Reginald Lord Devine (Leslie Jordan), for an interview to discuss the song “Strange Fruit” and the problem this ballard has brought to Lady Day. The song it condemns the U.S. history of lynching Black people, when asked why she was so intended on signing this song. Holiday simply respond ” How you ever seen a lynching? It’s about human rights, the government forgets that sometimes.” viewers are seamlessly transported 10 years earlier at the Cafe Society.
This where our story begins where were introduced to Billie Holiday’s bandmates, friends, current husband James Monroe (Erik LaRay Harvey), and manager Joe Glaser ( Dusan Dukic). We also see Jimmy Fletcher (Trevante Rhodes) a army man whose just returned home from deployment enjoying the soulful sound of Billie Holiday. Following her performance Fletcher tried to meet Holliday backstage before being turned away by Mr. Monroe.
The friction of Monroe, Holiday, and Glaser relationship is made apparent when she fights to have “Strange Fruit” on her set lists after being scratched, both Monroe and Glaser voice there onions on why it isn’t a good idea to perform that song because of the trouble it brings. But unbeknownst to Holiday, her husband has been dealing with Commissioner of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Federal Bureau of Narcotics Harry Anslinger (Garrett Hedlund) in order to get her to stop sing a song that Anslinger believes it make a lot of people to start thinking the wrong things such as fighting for equality.
Jumping forward to May 27, 1947 at the Earle Theater, Philadelphia in front of a packed house with audience and police men who rushed the stage ready to arrest her for attempting to sing “Strong Fruit,”due to the message with in the song that the investigation union deems a starting gun for the Civil Rights Movement. One of many potential uprising of African Americans J. Edgar Hoover wanted to stop. This forceful silencing of someone right to freedom of speak is akin to Rapper group N.W.A. be banned from performing “F**k The Police,” Holiday proceeded to sing “Strange Fruit,” but was abruptly stop by saxophonist Lester Young (Tyler James Williams) who managed to her Holiday escape arrest. However, she would later be arrested and charged with possession of narcotic, Heroine to be more exact by Fletcher during a raid of her apartment were she was staying in.
Fletcher reveals himself to be an FBI operative tasked by Anslinger to arrest Holiday on drug chargers. Holiday is then in front of a judge under the impression she would be sent to a medical faculty for addicts but was instead giving a year and one day in prison.
After Holiday’s release from imprisonment in what was like a court ordered rehab, she seemed to be health and ready to continue to bring awareness to the lynching of black men in the south. However, her imprisonment was a strategy employed by the government to take away her New York City cabaret card making it illegal for her to perform and essentially make money. Bring us to Holidays next Husband/Manager John Levy (Tone Bell), who set up gigs for Holiday in New York. The relationship between the two was short lived on screen but his biggest role was working in tandem with Anslinger to planting opium on Holiday to send her back to prison. This plan fell through when Fletcher admitted that the drugs didn’t belong to her and were planted. She would then be acquitted of the charge.
Because of his inability to lie on the stand, Aslinger tasked Fletcher with following and eventually infiltrate Holiday’s inner circle while she was on a country wide tour and report any drug use. Fletcher was already on the fence about this because his goal was to clear Harlem of drugs while his superiors motivations where to silence anyone sparking the idea of change happening in America. As Fletcher remained around Holiday, a romance was built between the two. He’s the only man she had a relationship with who doesn’t also beat, degrade and exploit her.
Holiday mentally shifted however after witnessing the aftermath of the lynchings she was trying to make public aware through her song. A horrifying site indeed Holiday wanted to find comfort in heroine again but Fletcher stop her. The following scene take all that emotion of the lynching imprinted on viewers minds and give us the first successful performance of “Strange Fruit.” The weight of those lyrics are heavy and the silence between Andra Day voice echoing throughout the auditorium is mesmerizing.
Fletcher and Holiday’s relationship continues to grow to the point he becomes the least interesting member of Holiday’s entourage. But as we know there aren’t any happy endings in real life Holiday is whisked away by her third and final husband Louis McKay (Rob Morgan) who he comes to pick her up when she stranded on the side of the road because he tour bus broke down.
McKay and Holiday traveled and eventually toured in Europe for sometime but McKay abusive behavior and addiction was on full display during a transition montage. The couple would be were arrested together for possessing narcotics. McKay was willing to work with Anslinger to find Holidays suppliers.
Toward the end of the film we are able to visibly see Holidays health deteriorate to the point she’s is hospitalize. Fletcher was by Holiday side until McKay and Anslinger paid her a visit to get the names of her suppliers, prompting that as soon as they have that information the government will leave her be. Holiday rejected the offer and GeForce the idea that the government didn’t care about the heroine but would much rather have “Strange Fruit,” died and burned.
What processed would be the terrible fact the Narcotics agents, arrested her as she laid dying — she was 44 when she died, of liver disease, in 1959 — claiming to have found heroine on her.
“The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” is available to watch on Hulu now with an R rating and runtime of 2 hours 10 minutes.
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