The rare documentary that matches its subject matter’s wit and energy.
What it's about
This thought-provoking film invites us into the award-winning writer Toni Morrison’s life and creative process, as well as the historical events that have made an impact on her work and vice versa.
The take
When Toni Morrison taught at Princeton, she told her students, “Don’t write about your little life. Create something.” This documentary follows her instruction by being more than a simple biography. Apart from telling the story of her rich, fully-lived life, The Pieces I Am doubles as an artful and educational history lesson about the unique African-American experience. It’s dotted with beautiful artworks and insightful anecdotes shared by Morrison’s colleagues from the various schools and publishing houses she worked at. But most important of all, Morrison gets to narrate the film in her own beautiful, poetic words and, in the process, reveals different facets of herself. There’s Morrison the teacher, editor, writer, and mother, but also: the delightful baker, the supportive friend, the party enjoyer, the critical philosopher. The Pieces I Am is a great collection of many things, a moving collage that pieces together the most interesting parts about the beloved writer in question.
What stands out
I still can’t stop thinking about the arresting opening sequence: dynamic, gorgeous analog collage art of Morrison herself.
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