Tina Kakadelis
My mom likes to joke that if you talk to a famous person and they say more than hello back, you are now close personal friends. By her definition, Liza Minnelli is one of her close personal friends. They met in a ladies’ restroom in Los Angeles, commiserating over a particularly bad date my mother was on. Isn’t that the way all close personal friendships begin? Before Liza was my mom’s bathroom buddy, before I knew her as the daughter of Judy Garland, before I was old enough to watch (and understand) Cabaret, to me, Liza Minnelli was Lucille Two on Arrested Development. I watched her, was entranced by her, and laughed at her long before I knew that her lineage connected her to some of the greats of Hollywood. In some ways, the new documentary, Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story, introduced me to Liza Minnelli for the very first time.
Liza Minnelli was born on March 12, 1946, in Los Angeles, California, to parents Judy Garland and Vincente Minnelli. She grew up in the shadows of two remarkably well-known Hollywood figures. Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story tracks Liza’s early career in the aftermath of the death of her mother. Even those with a cursory knowledge of Liza and Judy know that their relationship, however loving, was fraught. Without her mother, who is Liza Minnelli? Identity is a question we all grapple with, but when one of your parents is Judy Garland, it weighs much more heavily. Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story is a celebration of Liza’s life and career, as well as a reintroduction to one of the finest divas the world has ever seen.
In a time when nepo babies are a hot topic of conversation, it feels fitting to have Liza Minnelli on the tip of the tongue. She has never shied away from acknowledging who her parents are, but Liza is a talent in her own right, and it’s understandable to have interviewers talk about her achievements rather than those of her parents. Some of the nepo babies of today want to pretend they got where they are solely on their own abilities, which simply isn’t the case. They were born with their feet in the door, but in order to grow beyond the shadow of their famous family members, they have to find the talent that makes them stand on their own. It took Liza years and multiple collaborators to push her to become Liza with a Z.
Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story doesn’t reinvent the documentary wheel, but does it matter, really, when you get to spend an hour-and-a-half with the magic of Liza? The documentary is chock full of contemporary interviews and archival footage of her early performances. The audience gets to see her for who she was and who she is now. That’s not to say the film dives deeply into parts of her life that Liza has always kept close to her chest. She famously never talks about her romantic partners and the same is true in the documentary. Liza’s friends are interviewed about these relationships, but nothing new is uncovered or revealed. They’re politely touched upon and then swiftly moved past to focus on the friendships that have endured for much of her life and shaped her into the woman and performer she is today.
In a sense, ignoring the romantic for the platonic is admirable. It’s not often that friendships, which usually last longer than romantic relationships, are given a bright spotlight. The audience gets to see how influential people like designer Halston, composer John Kander, and lyricist Fred Ebb played meaningful roles in Liza’s life. It’s these friendships that have allowed Liza to find a freedom beyond her name and the legacy that came before her.
For all the documentary’s footage of Liza performing in her twenties and thirties, Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story ends with Liza and Jack Kander alone. He sits at the piano while Liza sits next to him on a stool. The two old friends play a little tune together, the years dropping away from both of them. “I’m so lucky and I know that,” Liza says at one point. Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story is an ode to an icon and all her sequined glory.
Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story opens March 7th in Pittsburgh, PA, Washington, DC & Fairfax, VA. For other cities, see, see Zeitgeist Film’s calendar of release dates across the U.S.
