‘Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story’ review: Minnelli in close-up

Dir: Bruce David Klein. US. 2025. 104mins

Liza Minnelli has been giving us that previous razzle dazzle for many years, and he or she stays a magnetic presence on the coronary heart of this cosy and catchy celebration of her life and work. She is joined in Bruce David Klein’s documentary by a refrain of previous mates – each well-known and never – who, quite than chronologically deal with her life, zoom in on what could be thought of a few of her biggest hits with a view to exploring the influences that helped form her expertise. 

Klein has a powerful grasp on all the materials

Having premiered eventually 12 months’s Tribeca, the documentary has been hot-footing it across the competition circuit since, with its newest curtain name in Thessaloniki. It has had a heat reception from US followers since its Zeitgeist launch Stateside in January, and should properly repeat the feat in different territories by way of Dogwoof. 

Klein, who has beforehand profiled rocker Meatloaf (Meatloaf: In Search Of Paradise, 2007) and American businessman Carl Icahn (Icahn: The Stressed Billionaire, 2022) mainly focuses on the last decade or so following the demise of Minnelli’s mom Judy Garland in 1969, when Minnelli was simply 23. That is framed as a narrative of the star stepping out of the shadow of Judy and that of her well-known Gigi director father Vincente Minnelli to, because the American songbook may say, discover her personal voice.

The director’s cherry-picking method means many issues fall by the wayside – there’s no point out of Minnelli’s function reverse Dudley Moore in 1981’s Arthur, for instance, or her later-life flip as Lucille Austero in Arrested Improvement. The plus aspect is that it makes extra room for Klein and his contributors to give attention to sure facets of Minnelli’s rise to fame, and the emotional {and professional} influence of key individuals in her life

Rise to fame is, maybe, not a time period that ought to be used for Minnelli, as she was basically born into it. The early a part of her life was impacted by Garland’s well-documented issues. Among the many movie’s wealth of archive footage is is the second during which Minnelli sang together with her mom on the London Palladium in 1964, the younger lady’s voice already a showstopper. Past being a celebration of her pure expertise, clips like this are a springboard for contributors, together with singer, pianist and shut pal Michael Feinstein, to supply extra psychological observations. On this case, it turns into a dissection of Garland’s lower than nurturing response to her daughter receiving applause.    

Damaged into chapters headed by forthright quotes together with, ’Emphasise what is nice. What you don’t like, change it’, Klein highlights key mentors in Liza’s life, from singer and vocal coach Kay Thompson, who grew to become like a surrogate mom following Garland’s demise, by way of Cabaret director/choreographer Bob Fosse, French singer Charles Aznavour and clothier Halston. Different interviewees embody life-long pal, the actor Mia Farrow, Cabaret co-star Joel Gray and half-sister Lorna Luft.

Minnelli’s meticulous method is clear in the way in which we see her instructing Klein to maneuver the digicam about, noting as she does that though she’s “her mom’s daughter”, there’s a variety of her father in there too. “Liza won’t ever go on digicam and speak concerning the grime,” we’re instructed and that seems to be true, though her coterie is extra prepared to fill within the gaps. Whereas the movie doesn’t fairly gloss over her quite a few romantic relationships, Klein’s speedy method refuses to let the main target stray from Liza’s stage and display expertise for lengthy.

The director additionally deploys telling clips from an in depth archive. We repeatedly see Minnelli batting away questions on her mom, a tip she realized from Cabaret and Liza With A Z lyricist Fred Ebb. The vulnerability that a number of of her mates consult with additionally comes by way of, together with in beforehand unseen backstage footage from a European tour.  In the meantime her star high quality shines and sparkles in a plethora of clips from stage reveals and movies together with  Cabaret and Martin Scorsese’s New York, New York. 

Klein has a powerful grasp on all the materials, and editors Jake Eager and Alexander J Goldstein minimize it collectively it fastidiously in order that the previous and the current typically meet. That is notably transferring in a second when Liza, singing whereas Michael performs the piano, is intercut with older footage of her singing the identical tune, making for a poignant duet. Regardless of galloping previous sure chunks of her biography, Klein additionally reveals loads of particulars. Robert De Niro’s hatred for the primary incarnation of New York, New York, for instance, or Halston’s choice to create her signature sequin look as a result of it wouldn’t present the sweat. 

That final statement speaks to the sheer weight of effort Minnelli has put in down the years. She could have been born into the highlight. however she is the one who has made it her personal.