Diana Ross: Her Life, Love and Legacy

Given Diana Ross’s status as an icon of the ages, it’s easy to think we know every inch of her life story, but it’s the little moments (or not so little) that can often be lost in the library of time.

To celebrate the singer’s 75^th birthday, Diana Ross: Her Life, Love and Legacy brings you the chance to relive the weekend of one of the most incredible musical events in history. Hundreds of thousands descended on Central Park in the summer of 1983 to see the Queen of Disco, but, uninvited, so did the rain.

One of the most prolific artists of a generation, Ross continued her performance whilst battling all of the elements, exclaiming to the audience as she is doused with the deluge, “It took me a lifetime to get here. I’m not going anywhere.” She did eventually have to leave the stage and abandon the concert due to safety measures for both crowd and artist, but not before vowing to return again the following day to deliver the show that thousands expected.

As an exhibition documentary-style piece, the film actually does very little to explain and delve into the diva’s life, or her love, or her legacy. There is little no to structure to the feature, with interviews with various members of the Ross family proving to be the only interlude to the broadcast footage of the event. That is not to say the tape alone doesn’t suffice, but it would be nice to have a stronger narrative to the documentary, even if it was just testimonials from gig-goers offering their experiences of what it was like being in the crowd 36 years ago and seeing their idol on stage in the rain, or further preamble and post reflection on what was to attend such a tremendous yet tumultuous weekend that would go down in legend.

Essentially just a feature-length recording of the concert, the documentary glosses over the finer details of the show, including how the torrential rain began to cause onlookers to push further and further towards the stage, or how over the course of the weekend New York City lost two million dollars in costs. This blinkered, single-track approach does limit the purpose and direction of the picture, but as anticipated, the joy of it all comes from the performance of Ross herself, singing her big hits with passion and love for the world whilst battling a tempest of goliath extremes. For fans of the singer, this film will be a pleasure to behold – a trip down memory lane for a few lucky individuals – but as a cinematic piece, the potential has not been fully achieved.

Guy Lambert

Diana Ross: Her Life, Love and Legacy is being screened in UK and Irish cinemas on 26^th March 2019. For further information about venues and tickets visit the event website here.

Watch the trailer for Dian Ross: Her Life, Love and Legacy here: