This portrait of performer and fashion icon Grace Jones is, unlike its subject, slightly flabby and undisciplined. It wanders off on tangents, following Jones on a family reunion in Jamaica, eavesdropping on childhood reminiscences and shared dinners. Director Sophie Fiennes makes the bold decision of not including any archive footage – this is Grace Jones as she is now. Fortunately, Grace Jones now – as always – is mesmerising. She’s a chameleon with quixotic moods and charm so intense, you worry it would singe your eyelashes if you got too close. The film works thanks to the intimacy of the material – Jones bares all to the camera – and to the dangerous drama of her live performances. It’s a celebration of defiant, uncompromising originality, a commodity which is all too rare in music these days.
