Entertainment

Film Review: ‘What Happened, Miss Simone?’

Published

11 years ago

June 25, 2015

By Dwight Brown
NNPA Film Critic

Sometimes artistry and insanity are so intertwined you can’t distinguish between them. That was the challenge for singer Nina Simone; dealing with worldwide fame and a madness she couldn’t shake. As you look back at her life, from a child prodigy, to a dinner theater piano crooner, to renown recording artist and a sufferer of mental illness, the mystique of Nina Simone wanes and the reality of her life comes into view. For those who loved her music, but knew something was wrong with her, questions are answered and mysterious demons put to rest thanks to this thoroughly enlightening documentary.

Born in 1933 in Tryon, N.C., by age 4, Eunice Kathleen Waymor was playing Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Debussy. Her talent came naturally, her virtuosity honed by practicing almost all day. In her hometown, mentors collected money so she could afford lessons. She played in her Sunday church choir. As she looked for a higher education, her hope was to study at a prestigious music school, but her application was turned down. She thought she was rebuffed because she was Black, and that slight/humiliation caused an anger that festered for years.

Eunice found herself playing piano in a club in Atlantic City to make ends meet. When the owner insisted that she sing, she obliged, fine-tuning a deep contralto that would be her signature sound. Around that time, she became Nina Simone. Record deals, touring, marrying a NYPD sergeant named Andy Stroud who would become her manager/music producer – it all helped her career evolve. But there was always something troubling her. Fits of anger, lots of it focused on her daughter Lisa; rage at inattentive audiences. She became a militant and a composer of protest songs during the ‘60s Civil Rights Movement. Then was estranged from the United States, with stints in Barbados, Liberia and Europe. Nina Simone left behind her a trail of personal chaos, yet fans flocked to see their Nina.

Veteran documentarian Liz Garbus (The Farm: Angola, USA), with cinematographer Igor Martinovic and editor Joshua L. Pearson, pulls you into the brilliant storm that is Simone very early in the film’s opening sequences. The music. The lady. The voice. The masterful piano playing. The spirit. Quickly, from never-before-heard audiotapes recorded over 30 years, through archival footage, interviews with her daughter, her booking agent and the chanteuse herself, you feel as if you are in the presence of greatness. You go on the emotional rollercoaster that was her life. Her intelligence is evident in every frame. The mental illness that consumes her becomes more and more pronounced as the footage rolls on. It’s awkward. Off-putting. Scary. Yet, you’re glued to the screen.

Sometimes it is the juxtaposition of the diametrically opposed parts of her life that are the most intriguing. The contradictions: Simon performs on Hugh Hefner’s short-lived TV series Playboy’s Penthouse; with the sophistication of an opera singer, she sings “I Love You Porgy” to a room full of nattily dressed White people. Frames later, she’s at a militant political rally talking about killing Whites as if it was just a forgone conclusion.

There is something so enthralling and yet sad about this nightingale who purred through jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel and pop, singing her hits: “My Baby Just Cares For Me,” “Sinnerman,” “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free,” “To Be Young Gifted and Black”… Legends like Nina aren’t suppose to die…

“What makes me happiest, is when I’m performing and people out there feel me and I touch them,” Simone said to a room full of fans. Through What Happened, Miss Simone? fans can still feel her.

Visit NNPA Film Critic Dwight Brown at DwightBrownInk.com.

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Oakland Post: Week of December 31, 2025 – January 6, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – December 31, 2025 – January 6, 2026

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4 days ago

January 2, 2026

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The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – December 24 – 30, 2025

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Alameda County

Bling It On: Holiday Lights Brighten Dark Nights All Around the Bay

On the block where I grew up in the 1960s, it was an unwritten agreement among the owners of those row homes to put up holiday lights: around the front window and door, along the porch banister, etc. Some put the Christmas tree in the window, and you could see it through the open slats of the blinds.

Published

2 weeks ago

December 21, 2025

Oakland Post

Christmas lights on a house near the writer’s residence in Oakland. Photo by Joseph Shangosola.

By Wanda Ravernell

I have always liked Christmas lights.

From my desk at my front window, I feel a quiet joy when the lights on the house across the street come on just as night falls.

My father, the renegade of the block, made no effort with lights, so my mother hung a wreath with two bells in the window. Just enough to let you know someone was at home.

Two doors down was a different story. Mr. King, the overachiever of the block, went all out for Christmas: The tree in the window, the lights along the roof and a Santa on his sleigh on the porch roof.

There are a few ‘Mr. Kings’ in my neighborhood.

In particular is the gentleman down the street. For Halloween, they erected a 10-foot skeleton in the yard, placed ‘shrunken heads’ on fence poles, pumpkins on steps and swooping bat wings from the porch roof. They have not held back for Christmas.

The skeleton stayed up this year, this time swathed in lights, as is every other inch of the house front. It is a light show that rivals the one in the old Wanamaker’s department store in Philadelphia.

I would hate to see their light bill…

As the shortest day of the year approaches, make Mr. King’s spirit happy and get out and see the lights in your own neighborhood, shopping plazas and merchant areas.

Here are some places recommended by 510 Families and Johnny FunCheap.

Oakland

Oakland’s Temple Hill Holiday Lights and Gardens is the place to go for a drive-by or a leisurely stroll for a religious holiday experience. Wear a jacket, because it’s chilly outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, at 4220 Lincoln Ave., particularly after dark. The gardens are open all day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. with the lights on from dusk until closing.

Alameda

Just across the High Street Bridge from Oakland, you’ll find Christmas Tree Lane in Alameda.

On Thompson Avenue between High Street and Fernside drive, displays range from classic trees and blow-ups to a comedic response to the film “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” Lights turn on at dusk and can be seen through the first week in January.

Berkeley

The Fourth Street business district from University Avenue to Virginia Street in Berkeley comes alive with lights beginning at 5 p.m. through Jan. 1, 2026.

There’s also a display at one house at 928 Arlington St., and, for children, the Tilden Park Carousel Winter Wonderland runs through Jan. 4, 2026. Closed Christmas Day. For more information and tickets, call (510) 559-1004.

Richmond

The Sundar Shadi Holiday Display, featuring a recreation of the town of Bethlehem with life-size figures, is open through Dec. 26 at 7501 Moeser Lane in El Cerrito.

Marin County

In Marin, the go-to spot for ‘oohs and ahhs’ is the Holiday Light Spectacular from 4-9 p.m. through Jan. 4, 2026, at Marin Center Fairgrounds at 10 Ave of the Flags in San Rafael through Jan. 4. Displays dazzle, with lighted walkways and activities almost daily. For more info, go to: www.marincounty.gov/departments/cultural-services/department-sponsored-events/holiday-light-spectacular

The arches at Marin County Civic Center at 3501 Civic Center Dr. will also be illuminated nightly.

San Francisco

Look for light installations in Golden Gate Park, chocolate and cheer at Ghirardelli Square, and downtown, the ice rink in Union Square and the holiday tree in Civic Center Plaza are enchanting spots day and night. For neighborhoods, you can’t beat the streets in Noe Valley, Pacific Heights, and Bernal Heights. For glee and over-the-top glitz there’s the Castro, particularly at 68 Castro Street.

Livermore

The winner of the 2024 Great Light Flight award, Deacon Dave has set up his display with a group of creative volunteers at 352 Hillcrest Avenue since 1982. See it through Jan. 1, 2026. For more info, go to https://www.casadelpomba.com

Fremont

Crippsmas Place is a community of over 90 decorated homes with candy canes passed out nightly through Dec. 31. A tradition since 1967, the event features visits by Mr. and Mrs. Claus on Dec. 18 and Dec. 23 and entertainment by the Tri-M Honor Society at 6 p.m. on Dec. 22. Chrippsmas Place is located on: Cripps Place, Asquith Place, Nicolet Court, Wellington Place, Perkins Street, and the stretch of Nicolet Avenue between Gibraltar Drive and Perkins Street.