The United States vs Billie Holiday: the film about the courage of the legendary singer arrives in theaters today, May 5, 2022
The United States versus Billie Holiday is a film that narrates a precise historical moment in the biographical life of the famous singer. To play Billie Holiday we see the Oscar nominee Second Daywhile the direction is signed by Lee Daniels. The film will be released in cinemas today 5 May, distributed by BIM Distribuzione.
The true story of Billie Holiday
It was the year 1959 when the well-known and talented singer Billie Holiday died at the age of 44 for a cardio-respiratory collapse. In the hospital they handcuffed her to her bed, because they found her unconscious in her apartment with a quantity of drugs to justify her immediate arrest.
But there was no mercy for her from narcotics agent Harry J. Anslinger. The agent, in fact, had been with his breath on her neck for twenty years. The man had her stop taking methadone, worsening her already critical clinical situation and, in fact, leaving her to die.
As told by The United States against Billie Holiday, out in theaters on May 5 with BIM Distribuzione, Anslinger was a well-known racist, much more than was usual at the time. While representing the government, he waged a personal battle against the singer, one of the greatest exponents of all time in jazz and blues music.
The story told in the film
The film is based on the book Chasing the Scream by Johann Hari and is directed by by Lee Daniels.
The film focuses on the 1940s, when Eleanora Fagan, aka Billie Holiday, raged worldwide as one of the greatest exponents of jazz and blues music in the world. But in the meantime, the US federal government decided to turn Holiday into the scapegoat of a tough battle against drugs, targeting her fragile and complicated life.
The ultimate goal of the actions against the singer was to prevent her from performing her ballad Strange fruit, a song of denunciation against the lynchings of the United States government and essential contribution to the civil rights movement.
With The United States vs. Billie Holiday, the director sought to bring a Holiday that was recognized for her political commitment to the big screen, moving beyond the 1972 biopic The Lady of the Blues which portrayed her only as a singer addicted to marijuana and heroin. .
Chi interpreta Billie Holiday
The United States Against Billie Holiday is the big screen debut of singer Andra Day as an actress. And if you want to believe coincidences, we give you this little pearl of curiosity: Diana Ross also made her screen debut in 1972 when she played Billie Holiday in The Lady. of the Blues.
Born in 1984, Cassandra Monique Batie better known to the general public as Andra Day won a Golden Globe for Best Actress and a Grammy Award for her singing performances in The United States Against Billie Holiday.
The actress, in her numerous interviews, revealed that she had to lose weight for the role – around 18 kg – and that she started drinking and smoking in order to be convincing in the role of Billie Holiday.
I have involved my family in this choice as well as myself and I do not encourage anyone to do so. I was desperate because this was going to be my first movie role.
This year the artist also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
Del cast fanno parte anche Trevante Rhodes, Natasha Lyonne, Garrett Hedlund, Miss Lawrence, Rob Morgan, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Evan Ross, Tyler James Williams, Tone Bell ed Erik LaRay.
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