Updated on Mar 1, 2021 5:46 PM EDT Published on Mar 1, 2021 5:33 PM EDT
Late into Lee Daniels’ new Billie Holiday biopic, Andra Day, as the late singer, steps onto a stage, alone. In the hushed venue, Day walks up to a mic, donning the singer’s trademark gardenias in her hair.
The camera lingers on Day’s face as she sings the opening lines to “Strange Fruit,” a signature Holiday song that protests lynchings of Black people. The accompanying music doesn’t start until after Day sings, in a Holiday-like rasp, of “Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze.” The movie cuts away from Day’s performance only one time, to show an audience that’s either enthralled or horrified or both.
Takashi Seida
With her mesmerizing voice and powerful performance style, Billie Holiday’s enduring legacy stretches beyond her impact on jazz and popular music. Her song “
Strange Fruit,” based on a poem metaphorically describing a lynching, became a protest anthem in the years leading into the civil rights movement. But Holiday also battled substance addiction while dealing with a lifetime of abuse, and J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI used this to relentlessly pursue and persecute her as exemplified by the title of a new biopic about her life,
Directed by Lee Daniels, the movie portrays the legendary singer (Andra Day) at the pinnacle of her career, which was captured through famous black-and-white photos from the ‘40s and ‘50s. Costume designer Paolo Nieddu eagerly took on the challenge of reimagining renowned moments of Holiday like a famous image of the singer entranced mid-song with her signature gardenia clipped above one ear for the biographical drama.
Golden Globe winner Andra Day shares significance of winning awards as a new actress 1019thekeg.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from 1019thekeg.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The singer, who attended San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts, wins in a category that included Viola Davis, Vanessa Kirby, Frances McDormand and Carey Mulligan
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Directed by Lee Daniels, the movie stars Andra Day as the titular Lady Day and tells the story of Holiday s life in the wake of Strange Fruit
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Feb. 26, 2021
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