The United States vs. Billie Holiday Review (Film, 2021)

content warning: racism, racial violence, violence against women, drug abuse, nudity, foul language, sexual content

The United States vs. Billie Holiday is a film about a very particular fight in a cruel government-led cultural war. Billie Holiday became an early target of the war on drugs. Specifically, her performances of the song “Strange Fruit,” a protest song against the lynching of Black Americans, put her on an ever-growing list of artists the US government wanted to go away. J. Edgar Hoover believed the song was a danger to American society, so he tasked his federal agents with punishing musicians like Billie Holiday who performed the song. They actively interfered with Billie Holiday’s career in a campaign of fear and intimidation.

There’s a level of excess to Lee Daniels’ films. He’s an artist who appreciates the value of aesthetics. The style of his films is considered not just for the look but for the impact on the story.

The United States vs. Billie Holiday is well shot and considered in this way. The filter on the footage and the lighting onscreen progresses through time to match the various scenarios in the film. Behind the scenes moments look like news reels or home movies. Performances look like Hollywood blockbusters. The quality of the image shifts through time and location, matching the glamor or mundanity of the situation.

Lee Daniels is also an actor’s director. He knows how to get phenomenal performances out of his actors. They exist in the universe he wants to create. Daniels uses tone as storytelling and it serves his vision. His greatest gift is getting his cast to inhabit his vision of the world.

Andra Day makes her feature film debut in The United States vs Billie Holiday with one of the most sensational performances to come out of a biopic in years. For starters, that’s her singing voice. She’s an accomplished musician with the skills necessary to adjust her instrument to match the style of Billie Holiday. I had to check for sure that she wasn’t lip syncing those performances because she sings just like Billie at that time. Dig out your Billie Holiday records (or search online) and compare once you watch the film.

There’s also a clear and believable shift between her onstage and offstage persona. Performers always have to be on to a certain extent unless they know the world can’t be watching; then they’re allowed to feel alone, afraid, or lost. Day finds all those levels and more in her performance.

There is enough plot in The United States vs. Billie Holiday to make several feature-length films. Even with a framing device that jumps back and forth in time, the film feels in control of itself. We’re used to this kind of story being a bit more focused on either a career or a specific key moment. The problem is, Billie Holiday’s story is expansive. Limit it just to her relationship with the song “Strange Fruit” and you still have a story encompassing international headlines, espionage, court cases, the music industry, racism, and the artist’s life.

It’s an ambitious goal that may have been better served in a longer format, like a limited series or two or three part TV movie event. The amount of information packed into The United States vs Billie Holiday is overwhelming by design. This is another signature element of a Lee Daniels film. He wants to transport you to a different world. It’s a world based in our own reality, but a world that’s focused on the emotional and psychological reaction to injustice.

The United States vs. Billie Holiday is streaming on Hulu.