Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry

Whereas the secondary theme in Greta’s story was Asperger’s Syndrome, it is depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation in the case of her peer Billie Eilish. With greater intimacy than other documentary portraits of pop stars, the film gives on honest, up-close look at how Eilish constructively deals with these unpleasant states of mind through music, as well as how writing songs and bounding about on the stage breaks her down both mentally and physically. In parallel with her rise, we see how she takes control of her image as a star and increasingly uncompromisingly resists the pressure to submit to the demands of the entertainment industry. Her emphasis on authenticity in music and public performance is reflected in the documentary, which did not give me the feeling that it was attempting to construct a certain image and pass her story off as a prefabricated “rags to riches” narrative. It is rather more reminiscent of a loosely connected series of home videos and observational and unusually long shots from her private life, interspersed with concert footage (in whose case, however, more space is dedicated to what happens behind the scenes rather than to the performance itself). On the one hand, this unkemptness enhances the feeling that we are close to the singer and that we see her as she really is. On the other hand, due to the very long runtime, these moments are quite repetitive and lack a clearer development and rhythm. For the next portrait, which will undoubtedly emerge in time, I would appreciate it if it took as direct an approach to matters as Eilish herself does and gave more space to her parents, to whom the film owes some of its most charming moments (such as her father’s partly worried and partly encouraging but not pedantic monologue on safe driving when Eilish sets out on her first solo drive in her Dodge Challenger). 65% (16.03.2021)

As someone whose musical tastes got stuck at the level of Tarantino, in the 1960s, I don’t listen to Billie and it’s unlikely I will start to, but surprisingly, I don’t mind her style and I actually consider it original and distinctive. All that is confirmed by this documentary, which wants to be distinctive to the bone, with a lot of footage right from the “kitchen” where one of the most anticipated albums in recent years was made. As documentary work, it’s not very good – the motives are rather slapped on top of each other without any clear chronological or thematic connection, and the density of the material is not enough to justify the runtime. But there’s something about it, for sure, because there’s something about that girl, too. Maybe she suffers from the same ills of the girls of her generation: she grew up in love with Justin Bieber and her first boyfriend was an idiot (that photo montage alone makes you want to punch his face), but her personality is certainly a phenomenon that is yet to say its last word. The documentary reveals enough of her to thrill her biggest fans and to make neutral nobodies like me ignore the envious haze of “alien celebrity” and see Billie as a (un)usual ordinary girl who doesn’t ride a high horse. She doesn’t shy away from talking about the dark side of growing up and her problems with self-confidence, which are a major source for the lyrics of her songs – messages that are eagerly listened to by her peers from all over the world, who’re mostly going through similar anxieties (and anyone who claims they didn’t during their teenage years is probably lying). I wish it had a bit more authorial input, something that would confront Billie on the key issues regarding her feelings, her work and her personal image, but this simple observational format is solid and natural enough this time. 60% (06.03.2021)