Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love (2009)
Average Rating: 6.4/10
Reviews Counted: 25
Fresh: 21 | Rotten: 4
It never gets close enough to its subject, and it's curiously light on music, but this documentary is nonetheless a long-overdue tribute to a brilliant musician.
Average Rating: 6.7/10
Critic Reviews: 13
Fresh: 11 | Rotten: 2
It never gets close enough to its subject, and it's curiously light on music, but this documentary is nonetheless a long-overdue tribute to a brilliant musician.
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Average Rating: 3.4/5
User Ratings: 2,390
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Movie Info
As one of two major documentaries on hotly debated Senegalese world musician Youssou N'Dour to emerge within a year of one another (see also Youssou N'Dour: Return to Gorà (C)e), this particular chronicle was produced and shot over a period of several years. Helmed by director Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, it witnesses the evolution and production of N'Dour's June 2004 album Egypt, on the Nonesuch label -- the recording that details N'Dour fully expressing his newfound Muslim faith. A veritable
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All Critics (25) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (21) | Rotten (4) | DVD (1)
By far the most powerful element is N'Dour's lone voice, a thing of high, pure beauty that feels at once ancient and new. When he sings, an otherwise earnestly conventional film becomes a vehicle of incantatory power.
Top CriticThis documentary by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi could have used more music for my taste, and fewer talking heads. But it's absorbing all the same. N'Dour is the sort of humanitarian bridge that we need in a world so sharply divided.
Be sure to stay through the closing credits as the scenes of Senegalese life act as a captivating coda to a film pulsing with music and memory.
Youssou N'Dour is a beautiful film to watch as it unfolds the life of N'Dour and, by extension, the lives of millions of West Africans who are anonymous to many in the West.
N'Dour is the film's unstoppable force, handsome and radiating joy. He's the kind of performer who is larger than life but always seems like one of the family.
Although his movie often resembles the kind of promotional video one might find as an extra on a concert DVD, N'Dour in full throttle is a sight, and sound, to behold.
Inspirational concert film.
When the music starts playing, it's easy to forgive the film's flaws.
An inspiring and edifying cinematic exploration of the power of music and the soul of a big-hearted African Sufi singer who has used his exceptional talent and creativity to make a better world.
Love looks and sounds great, but in depicting N'Dour as a lofty symbol for music's power to bridge worlds and inspire, it sometimes loses sight of the man.
While the rambling, repetitive look at his life off stage is unevenly edited, his music is gloriously heard and seamlessly presented to an appreciative global audience.
Documentary about a great world-music performer is colorful but also suffers from a certain blandness and repetitiveness. A pure concert movie with biographical interruptions would have been preferable.
A lively, soulful documentary that lacks sufficient insight into the life of Youssou N'Dour.
Fans and newcomers to N'dour's music will be equally enthralled by the finely observed, patiently wrought documentary.
Audience Reviews for Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
In 2004, responding to negative perceptions about his Muslim faith, N'Dour recorded EGYPT, a deeply spiritual album dedicated to a more tolerant view of Islam. In a critical and career-defining moment, the album was awarded the 2004 Grammy® for BEST WORLD MUSIC ALBUM. While Western audiences embraced N'Dour's brave musical message, it encountered a serious religious backlash in his native country of Senegal where N'Dour is considered a national hero. Local critics and the media accused him of insulting Islam, arguing that pop and religious music should not mix.
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June 11, 2009:
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Foreign Titles
- Youssou N'Dour: Rückkehr nach Gorée (DE)
- Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love (UK)
In 2004, responding to negative perceptions about his Muslim faith, N?Dour recorded EGYPT, a deeply spiritual album dedicated to a more tolerant view of Islam. In a critical and career-defining moment, the album was awarded the 2004 Grammy® for BEST WORLD MUSIC ALBUM. While Western audiences embraced N?Dour?s brave musical message, it encountered a serious religious backlash in his native country of Senegal where N?Dour is considered a national hero. Local critics and the media accused him of insulting Islam, arguing that pop and religious music should not mix.
Combining unprecedented images of Senegal?s most sacred Muslim rituals, vibrant concert performances filmed around the world, and intimate access to N?Dour and his family, I BRING WHAT I LOVE chronicles the difficult path this remarkable artist must take. It is a stirring journey of faith, redemption, and the power of music to overcome intolerance.