“I want to be an artist that I would want to be a fan of.” And Billie Eilish succeeds in her mission with this, her 7th concert movie co-directed with, of all people, Academy Award winner, James Cameron. You may wonder how he and Billie came to join forces for this concert extravaganza. It was through a vegan and sustainability conversation between movie mogul Cameron and Billie’s Mom. They hit it off talking about Billie and her way of living.
Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour was shot to be shown in 3D, with special glasses and all. There is a warning at the very top, that if you get motion sickness, or blinking lights affect you, know that there is plenty here. The film opens showing the huge room for the concert, with time-lapse as crews prep the enormous stage in Manchester, England.
Billie is dwarfed by the cavernous venue, but she takes command from the first note and you see how comfortable she is, smiling and singing from a platform high up near the ceiling, than running to each corner of the humongous rectangular runways on stage, and even running under the stage to get from one end to the other. She is an equal opportunity performer making sure everyone who bought a ticket gets their chance to see her.
Billie appears wearing loose clothing, a sports themed shirt and basketball shorts with boots. She’s got her own style. It’s comfort with no costume changes. Many of the fans dressed the same way. Sparkly costumes are not her thing.
As soon as she starts singing, you’ll see how much her fans are drawn to this talented young 10 time Grammy award winner for songs including “No Time to Die,” “What Was I Made For,” Birds of a Feather,” and this year for “Wildflower.” Her lyrics touch them so deeply, they know and sing every word and they’re huddling together, either smiling with joy or through real tears rolling down their cheeks. Her main concern is reaching fans who feel marginalized with her lyrics. They include those who are confused, lonely, dealing with self-identity, depression and survival. But we got a little bored seeing the same faces reacting over and over again to her musical messages.
James Cameron conducts interviews as he holds the camera shooting Billie. It’s an interesting technique having a second camera pointed at Cameron as his camera focuses on the singer. Plus putting cameras to cover all 4 quadrants of the Manchester venue with 16 monitors to get every angle. Billie became fascinated as she learned about filmmaking from Cameron’s attention to detail.
We were impressed with this singer/songwriter, who is so comfortable surrounded by thousands of passionate followers just trying to touch her hand as she runs on by. She shows not one ounce of fear as they try to grab her hand and sometimes even scratch her. She takes it all calmly, in stride. But she did sprain her ankle the first night of the shoot at Manchester and you see how she refuses to give in.
Billie and her brother Finneas were pretty much inseparable until a few years ago when Billie decided she needed a break and wanted to go solo. Finneas is busy writing songs and performing, too. He has 3 albums of his own. But they’re still very close. And when her brother hops up on stage this concert, you can see how happy they are to be together again, and loving.
Is acting in her future? Billie is reportedly in talks to act for the first time in an adaptation of Sylvia Plath’s 1963 novel The Bell Jar to be directed by Sarah Polley, Oscar winner in 2022 for her screenplay of Woman Talking.
Cameron’s close-ups enhance Billie selling a song and his interviews tell her story. Seeing 10 thousand phones light up, Billie hits hard with her music and connecting softly with lyrics to please her fans in the stands, and more in any theater.
Paramount Pictures 1 hour 54 minutes. PG-13
