As a long time music collector, most of Elton John’s albums have been played too many times to count. While so many of today’s artists are manufactured by talent agencies to produce one, maybe two hit singles, over a career that has spanned nearly forty years Elton John has sold over 200 million records, making him one of the most successful artists of all time. Further, he has more than fifty Top 40 hits including seven consecutive No. 1 U.S. albums, 59 Top 40 singles, 16 Top 10, four No. 2 hits, and nine No. 1 hits. He has won five Grammy awards and one Academy Award for The Lion King. Obviously, Elton John is no flash in the pan.
I remember a lot of press about Tantrums &Tiaras when it first came out back in 1997, but for whatever reason, I never got to see it. Given the title, when I received the DVD a few weeks ago, I expected to witness a legendary, overpaid pop star stomping around throwing tantrums about everything and everyone he came in contact with. My assumption couldn’t have been more wrong; there were really only two tantrums of any significance. The first, finds Elton upset during a shoot for his video Believe. He wholeheartedly admits that he hates making videos and he’s not Madonna or George Michael. Elton John is obviously a smart guy, he likely knows he’s ordinary looking, overweight and not exactly video material. I mean let’s face it, does a guy like him who has sold hundreds of millions of records and has a built in fan base really need to make videos to get his music out their anymore? So watching his tantrum isn’t that off base .
His second tantrum occurs when he is playing tennis and is recognized by an overzealous fan. Throwing the racket, he stomps off court, returns to his hotel, gets on the phone, and makes arrangements to fly home the next morning at 6 a.m. It’s kind of funny, actually. The guy does deserve a break away from his fans. Later, we find out Elton had calmed himself down, canceled his plans to return home and continued his vacation.
While the tantrums will be of interest to those that enjoy witnessing celebrities out of control, much of Tantrums & Tiaras serves to give us a look at Elton John and his daily life offstage. One of the more poignant moments of the film comes when Elton John’s mother sits down with her son to discuss her son’s career. When she begins to recall his drug use in the 1970’s, she asks that the camera be turned off. After Elton reminds her they agreed to do this in front of the camera, she continues the story and breaks down in tears. We are also briefly introduced to his very elderly grandmother, who lives in another house on the property. Elton makes it plain at the beginning of Tantrums & Tiaras that both his mother and grandmother were very supportive of his music career, so it is nice to meet them, however briefly.
John is surprisingly open about his addictions. Of course his battles with drugs have been well documented, but here; he discusses his battles with food and shows how he writes everything eats in a book on a daily basis. He also freely admits to being a compulsive shopper; we are even taken on a shopping trip to a Versace store in Moscow. And yes, he does own a couple of tiaras.
Elton John’s partner, David Furnish, films this entire documentary and will confront him during moments of static. The singer calms down and always tries to explain his reasons and will admit his faults or admit that he can’t explain them. I was always expecting John to utterly go ballistic when confronted by Furnish, but his restraint is admirable. It is clear that he loves Furnish deeply, and at the time the documentary was being filmed in 1995, Elton was still struggling with issues around accepting the unconditional love Furnish was offering him.
Elton John is clearly a workaholic who doesn’t want to stop making music anytime soon. He talks about his contract with his record company and the fact that his relationship with them is very good. He believes in abiding by a contract and he feels fortunate to be extremely well paid to do what he does. He admits that even if he doesn’t want to do something for Polygram, he will work hard and abide by the contract.
It’s fair to wonder whether Elton John is just playing to the camera. However, since he has survived forty years in an unforgiving business despite personal drug problems, it’s also fair to assume that he has treated record companies and their executives with a healthy dose of respect over the years. When Furnish confronts him and asks challenging, personal questions, John’s forced restraint tends to prove he will consciously do what he says. It appears as though Elton gave David Furnish the flexibility to ask whatever personal questions he felt necessary to create a fairly honest portrait of the pop stars life. It makes for great subtext onscreen, which overflows with the occasionally uneasy John.
Despite his crazy life, Tantrums & Tiaras is a portrait of a rock star that was finally getting comfortable in his own skin. By 1995, Elton John had been sober for five years, finally found his life partner in Furnish and accepted who he was. Anyone who is a fan of the singer, or who has a casual interest in celebrities, will likely find this documentary a fascinating glimpse into Elton John’s life.
The film’s aspect ratio of 1.33:1 is presented in full screen. Most of this feature was shot with a little handheld camera. Picture quality is so-so. Essentially a home movie, the images are drained of color, and then sometimes oversaturated. Skin tones vary. Some scenes appear more balanced. David Furnish seems to have a reasonable idea about lighting, like keeping the side of a face partly shadowed. Contrast ratio is almost nonexistent. Blacks vary from faded to decent.The compositions are fairly ordinary.
With the singer’s somewhat jittery personality, some of this hand held approach works well and highlights his obsessive-compulsive moments. While the documentary lacks much style, it’s still an intimate observance. Dimly lit areas (interior or exterior) display heavier grain. Furnish does try to keep the camera stable (the camera obviously doesn’t have image stabilization) to minimize motion sickness. The intercut concert footage is more professionally shot and has better saturation of colors, but it is fairly soft.
The disc has a Dolby Digital stereo track. The microphone simply appears to be the camera’s own, yet dialogue is captured rather well. He John has a baritone-like speaking voice with solid diction, so it is fairly easy to understand all that he says. Other incidental sounds that could provide more stereo effects, such as wind, traffic, and crowd chatter, are middling at best. The musical concert sequences make better use of stereo directionality, and have better frequency range and resonance. The studio-generated musical interludes of John’s famous songs are fully stereo and accent the film quite well.
No other audio track is available and no subtitles or Closed Captions are included.
Tantrums & Tiaras does offer a couple of special features:
First up, is a new Audio Commentary recorded by Elton John and David Furnish in mid-2008. The two reflect on how things have changed in the intervening thirteen years. This isn’t the most exciting commentary, but fans will want to give it a listen.
Next up are eleven Deleted Scenes. All are worth watching, and some really could have made it into the main feature. As I stated earlier, one of John’s obsessions is shopping, and when he goes to a new and glamorous Versace shop in Moscow in Shopping, it causes a stir. The scenes are: First Confession, Second Confession, Third Confession, Final Confession, Elton on Rod Stewart, Funny, Kylie Minogue, Mario Testino, Shopping, Gianni Versace, and XXX Funny.
