When Baird and Major began their quest in January of 2011 to follow the Williams sisters for a year, they couldn’t have known how tumultuous, yet revealing that time would be. As the film opens, Serena, 31, has been hospitalized with a potentially fatal blood clot in her lung. Venus, 32, is suffering from old injuries that doggedly refuse to heal. Later, we find out that Venus has also recently been diagnosed with Sjögren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease that causes periods of severe fatigue and joint pain.
Most athletes who had accomplished what they had at this point—Serena has 15 singles Grand Slam titles, Venus has seven—might decide to retire and enjoy the rewards of their hard work. But the Williams sisters were eager to return to their sport, steadfast in their belief that they had more to accomplish. Both sisters returned to the court in July 2011, still under the careful eye of their father Richard who had trained them as young girls in their crime-ridden neighborhood of Compton, California.
While it would be reasonable to think that Venus and Serena, have at least some level of sibling rivalry, this documentary leaves no doubt that these two are the best of friends. The two share a gorgeous home in West Palm Beach, Florida, and the bond between them is such that writer Gay Talese speculates that they are probably destined to marry brothers, because separating them seems inconceivable. Talese definitely has a point; they have a bond similar to some twins, they just happened to be born eighteen months apart.
Alternating between footage of the sisters as young girls and more recent material, Venus and Serena shows the girls growth from gawky but confident talents to undisputed champions. Along the way, such luminaries as President Bill Clinton, John McEnroe, Billie Jean King and others, express their admiration for the sisters. The only hint of tension comes from former coach Rick Macci, who says Richard wrote and asked Macci to mentor his daughters.
Macci says he did that, even paying for the family’s move to Florida, so they could practice more. He says he even put Richard on his payroll, because in order to make the move, he had to leave his job at a security company in California. However, when Venus begin making her ascent up the ranks (Macci seems to point to a $12 million contract she received from Rebok), Richard fired Macci. Whatever his influence on Venus, she barely mentions him when asked.
While Venus and Serena does a very good job of exploring their careers and the relationship between the two of them, Richard Williams remains an enigma. The film is more than half over before we learn that Richard and the sister’s mother Oracene had divorced and he was remarried. Prior to their parent’s marriage, Richard had a relationship that produced five children, a fact that Venus and Serena are aware of. He has other children, too, however. One possible older brother awkwardly appears on the court next to Richard. In the next scene, Serena says she has no idea who the man is.Richard Williams will likely always be an enigma and one gets the feeling he prefers it that way.
Ultimately, Venus and Serena is a fascinating look at two African-American athletes building on the legacy built by Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe; it also a story about a special and unique bond between sisters.
Presented in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio, Venus and Serena is comprised of a lot of archive footage, which means that the presentation varies greatly. The interview footage shot by the filmmakers throughout 2011 looks superb. There’s a nice level of detail throughout. It’s obvious those segments were shot in high definition. Some of the older footage is pretty sketchy, but you expect that from a production that must use archive material from various sources.
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack suffers from the same issues as the video. Most of the archived audio stays in the center channel, but the background music is used to open up the front channels. The music, by such artists as Wyclef Jean, N.W.A. and others, sounds good and opens things up nicely. There’s little to no activity in the rear channels. Dialogue is clean and clear throughout.
English SDH and Spanish subtitles are available.
The following special features are included:
- Deleted Scenes (HD, 45:32) We get a slew of deleted scenes including the sisters going to doctors, being silly, a court appearance Serena made in reference to a stalker, etc. There’s plenty of good stuff for fans.
- Interview with Director Maiken Baird (HD, 3:56) Baird discusses how they started pursuing the Williams sisters about a documentary way back in 2007 and how they finally achieved their goal. She also discusses how she convinced some of the other interviewees to participate in the project.
- Interview with Michelle Major (HD, 7:43) Major reveals that they shot over 450 hours of footage and discusses the fact that Venus and Serena clearly got more comfortable with the filmmakers given a little time.
- AXS TV: A Look at Venus and Serena (HD, 2:42) Little more than an extended promo for the film.
- Theatrical Trailer (HD, 2:30)
