No need to present it. Quincy Jones is an iconic figure in our company. But what do we really know about this living legend? It is under the eye of his daughter, Rashida Jones (co-director alongside Alan Hicks), that he discovers a passionate and nostalgic octogenarian, telling his own story. Rocked between memories and reality, this documentary traces the footsteps of a music juggernaut, whose work has profoundly influenced our society.
The images are amazed from the first seconds, where awards, photos, album covers, gold records and scores of some of the greatest titles of recent decades, from Ray Charles to Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin or Ella Fitzgerald follow one another. The list goes on and on. Quickly, the tone is set: the documentary will oscillate between archive images illustrating the life and evolution of Q, and intimate moments of his life today, without wooden language. Chronologically, Quincy Jones' life is flattened: his difficult childhood, his beginnings alongside Ray Charles when both were then teenagers, and then the rise of his career.
Beyond the man it portrays, the real theme of this documentary settles slowly, but surely, without taking up all the space: Quincy Jones is African-American, born in the 1930s. He had to face segregation and fight to make a name for himself. Quincy is therefore not just a biography, it is a reminder of what minorities have had to fight – and still have to – to fight for access to certain opportunities, especially in the United States. It is above all the story of a man determined to push the limits, and who little by little, will succeed.
If some know him only for having produced Thriller , this latest Netflix production will put everyone in agreement on Quincy Jones, by gently immersing himself in the life of a touching and sincere octogenarian, in his intimacy, his moments of weakness, but also his greatest prides and achievements.
