Amazingly, I have a had time to watch a few documentaries I have been wanting to see.  First it was ‘Hired Gun’ Review and now it is the Lady Gaga documentary, ‘Gaga: Five Foot Two’ which I have been wanting to watch since its release in September 2017 on Netflix.  The documentary covers the time in Stefani Germanotta’s life (aka Lady Gaga) between the making of her outstanding album ‘Joanne’ and her Super Bowl appearance in 2017.

The style of the video takes a minute to wrap your head around and understand why it is being filmed that way.  The style is called Cinéma Vérité which is an observational style of filiming.  Click on the name to learn more.  Once I got passed the style, I really started enjoying the film.  It is an in depth, behind the scenes, look into her life.  It doesn’t look like she was too worried about how she came across.  You see her happy and smiling, crying, with or without make-up or even clothes at times.

Lady Gaga bares it all and doesn’t hold back anything which really draws you into her world and makes her feel authentic.  You start to feel what she is going through and she becomes relatable.  The thing I got out of it, being a rock star is not glamorous at all.  It is grueling work, it is brutal, it is exhausting, it is painful and it is not a life for the faint of heart.

I loved seeing the behind the scenes of the making of the album.  Lady Gaga is a true talent and she knows what she wants.  With the help of Mark Ronson, she created beautiful and personal album.  One of the funny, light hearted moments was when she ran into the back of Mark’s Mercedes in her big truck and I am not sure how she did it or what caused her to do it.  But she did.  She felt so bad.  Mark played it off like no big deal (such a good sport), but I am sure he was pissed.

Another great moment that really touched me was learning the meaning behind the title of the album and the song ‘Joanne’.  I knew it was part of her real name, but other than that I didn’t know the story.  Joanne was her Aunt (her Dad’s sister) that died when she was 19 due to Lupus.  After Gaga finished the song Joanne, she went to her Grandmother’s house and played her the song about Joanne. It was so touching and moving that I actually shed a tear.  It really brought new meaning to the song and I felt their pain.

Speaking of pain, the film does go into detail about the pain Lady Gaga feels on a daily basis related to when she had a broken hip and to fibromyalgia.  And not just that pain, but her emotional pain.  She has dealt greatly with her self-worth and insecurities.  She goes into that struggle and says she is in a better place now, but you can still see the insecurities.

The film really touches on a lot of areas such as the filming of her video for “Perfect Illusions”, her issues with Madonna, the Super Bowl appearance, American Horror Story, her breakup with her fiance, her fans and her life in general.  I won’t go into detail as you can see the film for yourself and I don’t want to give anymore away.

Overall, the movie was worth seeing.  I didn’t realize I was a fan of hers until the ‘Joanne’ album, which is why I really wanted to see this. I am glad I did.  It was great insight into the daily struggles she faces and made her a little more human.  She comes across likable and a very strong, powerful young woman despite her insecurities.  She is in control of her life and her career and wouldn’t have it any other way.

I will give it a 4 out 5 stars as it kept me entertained and engrossed throughout the film even with all her quirkiness, strange behavior and sometimes non-sensical rantings.  If you get a chance, give it a view. I believe it is only on Netflix, so if you have Netflix, you have no excuse for not watching.