Film Pick of the Week: Respect - Review by Yvette Huddleston

Following a traditional narrative structure, the film opens in 1950s Detroit with the precociously talented young Aretha being invited to perform by her charismatic Baptist preacher father the Reverend CL Franklin (Forest Whitaker on fine form) at his glitzy parties. She is nine years old at this point but as one of the guests observes she has the voice of a 30-year-old. Franklin’s parents are already separated – the film coyly skirts over the reasons why – and then her mother dies when she is only ten years old, a loss which left an indelible mark.

The movie then jumps to Aretha’s teenage years – she is the mother of two sons whose father she refuses to name – and her talents as a singer are by now well-known through her performances as a gospel singer touring with family friend and civil rights activist Dr Martin Luther King Jr. At a reception for King, Aretha meets producer Ted White (Marlon Wayans) who makes her an offer, both personal and professional, that she is tempted by. Her father warns her to steer clear of him and in an effort to exert his own control over his daughter’s career introduces her instead to Columbia Records executive John Hammond.

Aretha makes some albums, singing jazz standards, which are all well-received but a big hit evades her. Trying to free herself from her father’s influence she begins a relationship with White who in quick succession becomes her husband, her manager and father to her third son. He secures a deal for her with Atlantic Records and she records what was to become her first hit – I Never Loved a Man (the way I loved you). It is at this point that White first becomes violent towards her.

The film then charts her efforts to free herself from that abusive relationship, her struggles with depression and alcohol – and her emergence as a huge star with her two sisters as her backing singers. There are some cracking recreations of studio recordings and classic live performances, featuring some of her biggest hits including, (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman and of course, her version of Respect. The closing scenes capture her legendary live recording of a gospel album in the early 70s which became her biggest ever hit.

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