BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE ‘This Is It’ movie, which chronicles the last few months of Michael Jackson’s life as he prepared for his final concert tour, brought out die-hard fans of the King of Pop last night for the premiere at Caribbean Cenemas.
Even if you are not a die-hard fan of the icon who created indelible songs for the world like ‘Bad’ and ‘Thriller’, you should watch “This Is It’ to gain insight into the artist’s life at work and how he collaborated with others in developing, producing and perfecting various elements for his final show.
‘This Is It’ will run at Caribbean Cinemas for the next two weeks. The movie show times are 7:00p.m. and 9:30p.m. during the week, and 2:00p.m., 4:30p.m., 7:00p.m. and 9:30p.m. on the weekend.
A large crowd attended the 7:00p.m. and 9:30p.m. screenings last night to see the exemplary showman during his final months before his untimely death on June 25.
Several persons at the movie premiere donned T-shirts with MJ’s picture as well as a single white glove in his honour.
During the two-hour-long documentary, persons in the 7:00p.m. screening seemed to enjoy Jackson’s performance of ‘Billie Jean’ the most. Moviegoers sang along with the songs, emitting light laughter here and there in response to MJ’s charming, understated sense of humour and some even chanted his name.
It was clear throughout the movie that Jackson was very focused on making the concerts successful. For instance, MJ would state from time to time that he wanted to conserve his voice for the concerts.
He was also involved in every aspect of the show, from hand-selecting the principal dancers to overseeing the production of video elements.
The movie features interviews with his dancers; some of whom traveled across the world to audition for the chance to be in ‘This Is It’. One dancer said that he had only learned of the ‘This Is It’ audition two days before it occurred and said that he travelled from Australia the very next day.
It is evident in the movie that performing with MJ was a lifelong dream for them. There are scenes with the dancers cheering him on, watching him adoringly, and goading him on to sing out “just this one time” rather than conserve his voice.
‘This Is It’ also captures light banter between MJ and his creative team. He is shown as a consummate perfectionist. Yet he makes them feel better when something goes wrong by saying soothingly, “This is why we rehearse.” He also encourages a young, female guitarist to put on an unforgettable show with her strings, saying, “This is your moment to shine.” He assures her that the whole team will be right there beside her.
Jackson’s support of his creative team – which included his band, vocal coaches, production crew, backup singers and dancers and even aerialists – is also evident in the movie when he refers to them as ‘family’ and tells them ‘God bless you’ from time to time.
What is sometimes overlooked but was present in the movie was the artist’s love for people and the world, which is reflected in songs like ‘Earth Song’, ‘We Are the World’, ‘Man in the Mirror’ and ‘Heal the World’.
At the end of ‘This Is It’, movie-goers clapped and cheered in appreciation and left with a more intimate feel of the artist.
