ANY OTHER WAY: THE JACKIE SHANE STORY is not a film you should go into expecting a warm and fuzzy feeling. While the film does give us a portrait of a great singer you probably haven’t heard of before, it is also a portrait of a woman who while on the verge of having it all slid completely off the radar. It is a very bittersweet tale.
Jackie Shane was a rocking blues performer. Her star was rising and then she disappeared. Where she went and why is explored in the film. Part of the reason is due to the complications to her being trans. In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s that was something that many people did not want to deal with.
I was moved.
In a lot of ways this is one of the best documentaries I’ve seen in years. Telling me a story that I hadn’t heard before, it tells it like it is and doesn’t really sugarcoat it or turn it into something that it isn’t. It’s a film that stays true to its subject and her story. The result is a film that moves us as it’s making us think and leaving us troubled - Shane should have been huge.
However if you don’t want to be troubled and just want to hear some great blues see this film.
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