The Movie:

Finding Fela is an efficient, albeit messy documentary that should provide a decent introduction to those who have never heard of Fela Kuti or have a basic understanding of his work. I belong to the second category. Before watching Finding Fela, all I could say about Fela Kuti could have probably fit into a short sentence: He was a highly influential Nigerian musician who became famous during the 70s and used his music to fight injustice and promote peace in his country as well as the world.

If Fela's infectiously energetic and extremely passionate belief that music can literally change minds and make the world a better place reminds you of Bob Marley, you're not alone. One of the many interview subjects in Finding Fela makes that comparison at the documentary's beginning.

By that comparison alone, one might expect a biographical documentary as well rounded, spiritually powerful and impeccably executed as Kevin Mcdonald's Marley, especially if we consider that the man behind the project is the renowned and prolific documentarian Alex Gibney (Enron, Taxi to the Dark Side).

Unfortunately, Gibney tries to juggle too many disconnected elements in order to try to piece together a cohesive picture about such a complex and versatile man. The fact that he leaves in about forty-five minutes of superfluous material in a film that's already twenty minutes shorter than Marley doesn't help his cause.

There are three major sources of footage that are used to put Finding Fela together. One of them is fascinating, one of them is adequate, and the last one is kind of pointless. It shouldn't be a surprise that the fascinating parts are almost always the bits of vintage footage Gibney uses of the real Fela Kuti. Either via interviews or especially the magnetic concert footage, we see the inarguable power and dedication behind the man himself in his rawest form possible.

His confidence in himself, passion for his music and dedication for his people comes off with a kind of loving swagger rarely seen from even some of his most influential contemporaries. It's a challenge not to move your body and groove with his Afro Beat performances even during the mere seconds of concert footage Gibney inserts into his film.

The adequate parts consist of the typical talking heads-style interviews full of Fela's family, friends, band members and fans chiming in to fill in the gaps within his long and complex story. His extremely positive qualities, like his resilience against the abusive Nigerian government that sought to silence his every word, the way he personally took care of literally thousands of displaced and disenfranchised people in a giant commune he built, are honestly and openly combined with some of his negative qualities, such as his proudly misogynist behavior, as well as the many lives he risked while refusing to believe in the existence of AIDS, the disease that eventually took his life.

The pointless element appears in the form of behind-the-scenes footage on the creation of "Fela!", a Broadway play based on, you guessed, Fela Kuti's life. Even though the performances in this play are top-notch and Gibney tries his best to incorporate scenes from it to propel the story forward, they remain disconnected from the film's overall vision. It might have been better if a mini-documentary on the play was included as an extra on the Blu-Ray instead.

The Blu-Ray:

Video:

The interview footage, as well as scenes from the making of the Broadway play were recently recorded and therefore contain the expected clean and bright digital photography in the film's 1080p transfer. There's nothing wrong with that of course, but it's not visually groundbreaking either. The vintage footage, on the other hand, looks lovingly restored and probably represents the clearest way to see Fela in action.

Audio:

There are two DTS-HD tracks that are provided on the Blu-Ray, 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo. Of course the most important aspect of any documentary that deals with music, especially with music as vibrant as Fela Kuti's, is the overall sound quality. In that case, Finding Fela does a great job of creating a powerful surround experience. I just wish we got more of the music, but that's another discussion. The interview segments can also be heard clearly.

Extras:

Extended Interviews: Thirty minutes of interviews, some of them from subjects we haven't seen in the finished documentary are showcased here. Some interesting stuff, but the fact that we have to see a long title card at the end of each scene is a bit annoying.

Fema Kuti Sax Solo: A three-minute section of the Broadway play represents the only uncut musical segment on the Blu-Ray.

Podcast Interview with Alex Gibney: This is a 26-minute audio-only interview with Gibney that's very informative. Gibney mostly talks about his personal connection to Fela.

We also get a Trailer and some Stills.

Final Thoughts:

Finding Fela is a decent entry point into the life and music of Fela Kuti, and not much more should be expected from it. If we ignore the scenes about the play, it should inspire audiences to seek out Fela's music, and that by itself should be the reason to at least check out this documentary once.

Oktay Ege Kozak is a film critic and screenwriter based in Portland, Oregon. He also writes for The Playlist, The Oregon Herald, and Beyazperde.com