What Happened, Miss Simone?

The titular question in Liz Garbus's Oscar-nominated Netflix documentary is taken from a poem by Maya Angelou. And it is incisively answered in this unsparing portrait of legendary but deeply troubled singer-songwriter Nina Simone, which is somewhat surprising, given that this is essentially an “authorized” biography—with the subject's daughter serving as a producer (and one of the most prominent interviewees)—drawing on reams of archival material (diaries, home movies, tape recordings) derived from the family's collection. The Mommie Dearest quality of Lisa Simone Kelly's reminiscences about her mother leads to an occasionally harsh tone, but this is an overwhelmingly sympathetic sketch of Simone, chronicling her childhood, thwarted ambition to become a concert pianist, struggle to find acceptance as a vocalist, rocky marriage, and transformation due to the racist violence of the 1960s into a civil rights activist so committed to the cause that her music (and popular acclaim) became secondary to her message. The last segment follows Simone's mental deterioration and final years, living largely forgotten and impoverished, bringing a poignant conclusion to Garbus's evocative treatment of an extraordinarily talented artist whose musical career was only one aspect of a life shaped by the social ferment of her time and by her own personal demons. Highly recommended. (F. Swietek)