Courtney Barnett Doc Is Emotional Portrait Of Fame

Courtney Barnett Doc Is Emotional Portrait Of Fame

Anonymous Club hits a sweet spot that the best music does, hitting notes that are both relatable and alien, painting a surprisingly grounding picture

The best music documentaries do the impossible, simultaneously creating an intimate portrait of a larger-than-life figure and grounding them in a world that seems fantastical to most, while maintaining some level of grandiosity that conveys what it means to be the subject of people’s devotion. Anonymous Club, which follows Australian-born singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett, finds itself in a unique position. Its subject is notoriously shy, but finds herself on a world tour in support of her album Tell Me How You Really Feel in front of thousands of screaming fans. “It feels like I’m being part of this scripted performance of what we think we’re supposed to see on stage and it just feels really pointless,” Barnett says early on, ruminating on the fact that she has the entire next year of her life mapped out. Anonymous Club hits a sweet spot that the best music does, hitting notes that are both relatable and somehow alien, painting a surprisingly emotional and grounding picture of what it means to perform for the world when one would rather stay in bed.

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Narrated by Barnett herself, the artist was given a dictaphone by filmmaker Danny Cohen and, as the film progresses, she becomes increasingly unguarded. Barnett is about to embark on a world tour and Anonymous Club is filmed over a three-year period of her life as she deals with increasing prominence while being plagued by self-doubt.

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Anonymous Club does offer access to Barnett in a way that she hasn’t opened up before and it provides fleeting moments of intimacy that feel like a form of intentional voyeurism. Some of this is due to the way in which it is shot. The 16mm film gives Anonymous Club an aesthetic that feels fitting, with Barnett’s low whisper guiding audiences from scene to scene. Some of these scenes feel like actual peaks behind the curtain and, when these intimate moments are contrasted against the more visceral and angry shades of the music she plays, there’s an interesting juxtaposition to be found there.

Courtney Barnett in Anonymous Club

Still, sometimes it feels like this juxtaposition is just surface-level tension, a baseline on which something could be further explored. Perhaps it’s the paradox of Barnett’s reclusiveness that makes it feel like there’s something the audience is not being told, as if Barnett is still holding something back. Barnett’s openness about this, as well as the candid discussions of mental health and the ways fame can affect it, create an interesting sort of Catch-22. One early scene in the film shows Barnett in a gold-plated room at a hotel in Berlin. She professes to “love it”, but there’s still a sense that she’s not quite comfortable in that environment.

The one place where Barnett does look wholly comfortable is the stage. This is where both Barnett and the film itself shine. There’s something primal about Barnett’s stage presence and Anonymous Club’s use of 16mm film and close-ups during her performances feel almost as personal as the singer’s narration. Music documentaries sink or swim when it comes to portraying the artists onstage and Anonymous Club’s strength is that it recognizes when Barnett is most comfortable, zooming out or panning away in moments that feel almost too intimate.

Cohen and Barnett feel in tune with each other in these moments and that’s part of what makes Anonymous Club so special — the documentarian has a clear appreciation for his subject. This can be both a good and bad thing, though. Perhaps it makes Anonymous Club feel just a tad restrained, afraid to push its subject too far beyond comfortability. Still, Barnett opening up is a wonderful sight to behold in and of itself, and while questions linger about the person behind the artist after the conclusion of the film, it still feels as if audiences have witnessed something special.

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Anonymous Club released in theaters on July 15. The film is 83 minutes long and is not rated.

Our Rating:

3 out of 5 (Good)

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About The Author

Graeme Guttmann
(1294 Articles Published)

Graeme Guttmann is an editor, reviewer, and interviewer for Screen Rant. With a love for all things pop culture since a young age, he watches pretty much everything from the biggest blockbusters and television shows to buzzy festival hits and reality shows like Real Housewives. He currently resides in Boston, MA where he is an MFA candidate at Emerson College for poetry. You can follow him on Twitter @pentagraeme.

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