MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A. – Review

She’s the rapper that flipped off the camera at the Super Bowl. She’s the political activist that is critical of America. She’s the pop star that had a hit featuring kids singing the chorus layered over gunshots and a sample of The Clash’s “Straight to Hell.” Music critics and fans knew of M.I.A. starting with her breakthrough album Arular in 2005, but it wasn’t until her song “Paper Planes” was featured in the 2008 film SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (it went on to win Best Picture) that the general public became aware of the Sri Lankan artist which led to an unconventional radio hit. And with that came a series of controversial performances, music videos, and interviews, that all culminated in a 2012 Super Bowl halftime show alongside Madonna. Yet, for all of the headlines, articles, and think-pieces labeling the artist as an enfant terrible, many were more obsessed about the nature of her actions instead of listening to what she was saying.

In the years that followed that performance, M.I.A. released albums that pushed her mix of electronic hip-hop, African dance-hall beats, and tribal drums, into more experimental territory with mixed results. Whether intentional or not, her name disappeared from the media in recent years. As a result, this new documentary feels like a look back at a long-lost pop icon as well as a film that doesn’t feel as urgent as it might have been 4 or 5 years ago.

Ironically, MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A. has been in development for years. Director Steve Loveridge was given over 700 hours of footage chronicling the journey of a young girl who wanted to be a rapper and then a documentary filmmaker (going on tour with Britpop band Elastica) and then a singer and producer. How he was able to edit that down into a clear and cohesive 96 min narrative is an accomplishment in and of itself. Yet, it’s also an engaging portrait that shows how someone’s identity isn’t easily defined. So much ground is covered in this film – hence, the three names she goes by that are featured in the title – that you feel like you’re seeing multiple sides of an individual, which is uncommon in most documentaries. The cut and paste approach to the film presents the subject as if you are watching her life unfold naturally. The fact that it’s all told from and filmed (mostly) from her perspective gives us a chance to see Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam in a raw and unfiltered light. Albeit, a light very much controlled by the subject.

Loveridge serves more as a conduit for M.I.A. compared to the typical documentary filmmaker. He isn’t the provocateur asking questions, but given the footage, he has assembled intriguing pieces where we can see the foreshadowing of a young artist that saw the power and responsibility of being handed a microphone. Her escape from a civil war and her father’s position within that war bears a heavy presence on her mind and becomes a crucial part of her music. In the film, it becomes just as important to the narrative as her Super Bowl fallout (though the events of that day and the aftermath might be focused on a little too heavily).

What’s most intriguing is that following the documentary’s premiere at Sundance earlier this year, M.I.A. expressed disinterest in the film, going so far as saying that the director removed her “cool” element. Watching the film with this knowledge adds another layer to the outspoken performer and activist. If the film paints a portrait of an artist that is heavily inspired by the Sri Lankan civil war and the treatment of refugees in England and America, what is the “cool” side of the performer that we’re not seeing? If the title refers to a woman exploring her identity through three different personas, perhaps there is a fourth somewhere among the hundreds of hours of footage that we haven’t met. In the end, it’s hard to compartmentalize one’s life, and maybe that’s the point.

Overall score: 3.5 out of 5

MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A. opens in select theaters Friday, September 28th, 2018