Milli Vanilli (film)

Last updated

Milli Vanilli
Milli Vanilli documentary poster.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Luke Korem
Produced by
Bradley Jackson
Starring
Robert Pilatus
CinematographyGabriel Patay
Edited byPatrick Berry
Music byMondo Boys
Production
companies
Distributed by Paramount+ [1]
Release dates
  • June 10, 2023 (2023-06-10)(Tribeca Festival)
  • October 24, 2023 (2023-10-24)(Paramount+)
Running time
106 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Milli Vanilli is a 2023 American documentary film about the German-French pop music duo Milli Vanilli, consisting of Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan. [2] The film chronicles the circumstances surrounding the duo's meteoric rise to fame and devastating fall. [3] It features rare archival footage, exclusive interviews with Pilatus and Morvan, and interviews with the real singers and record executives. It is directed by Luke Korem and produced by Korem, Bradley Jackson, MRC, Keep on Running Pictures, and Fulwell 73, in association with MTV Entertainment Studios. [4]

Contents

Synopsis

The film follows the rise to fame of Robert "Rob" Pilatus and Fabrice "Fab" Morvan as the duo Milli Vanilli, in the late 1980s. It features interviews with Morvan, Pilatus (though archival recordings), the real singers, record executives, and music celebrities such as Timbaland and Diane Warren.

Pilatus and Morvan, who both had difficult childhoods, first meet in Munich, Germany. With very few Black people in the area, they quickly develop a brotherly bond. The two young men work as dancers, start their own pop duo, and grow long braids as a signature hairstyle.

Record producer Frank Farian offers them a recording contract. According to Morvan, only after signing (and not reading) the contracts does the duo learn they are going to lip sync to pre-recorded tracks by other singers. They are upset by this but can't break their deal with Farian without paying back all the money he has advanced them. However, Ingrid Segieth (Farian's business partner and then-girlfriend) claims that Morvan and Pilatus did not need to be coerced into lip syncing, and they were happy to go along with the plan from the beginning.

The name Milli Vanilli is inspired by Segieth's nickname, "Milli". The group releases the album All or Nothing in Europe. After being signed to Arista Records in the United States, the album is reworked and reissued as Girl You Know It's True to American audiences. It goes 6x Platinum in 1989 and sells over 30 million copies worldwide.

Due to Pilatus and Morvan's strong accents and limited English in interviews, rumors arise that Milli Vanilli may be a fake band. They suffer an embarrassing incident when a vocal track skips at a concert. Arista tries to keep the event out of the public eye and dismisses any negative claims regarding the band's integrity.

Milli Vanilli wins Best New Artist at the 32nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1990. Morvan and Pilatus want to sing on the next album, but Farian refuses. As a result, they demand more money in the hope that a frustrated Farian will let them out of their contracts. Instead, he goes to the press and reveals the charade.

When this causes a scandal, Milli Vanilli must return their Grammy and are ostracized from the music industry. Pilatus and Morvan suffer the majority of the vitriol, while the producers and executives remain relatively unscathed. Record executive Clive Davis denies Arista had any knowledge of the lip syncing. However, the documentary's interviews reveal that Arista was aware of the situation six months before the awards ceremony, if not earlier.

In the aftermath, Farian releases the album The Moment of Truth by "the Real Milli Vanilli." This new lineup features some of the original studio singers and musicians, as well as new band members who have been hired only for sex appeal. Meanwhile, Pilatus and Morvan release the album Rob & Fab , which features their own vocals. It only sells 2,000 copies, and the duo stop working together.

Over the next several years, Pilatus struggles with poor mental health and substance abuse. He eventually dies of an overdose after mixing alcohol and pills. Segieth, who came to do a wellness check, finds him on the floor of his hotel room.

Morvan fares better, though he struggles to find respect as a musician. He moves to the Netherlands, marries, and has children. He says he no longer feels ashamed about his time in Milli Vanilli.

Release

Milli Vanilli had its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival on June 10, 2023, and was released globally by Paramount+ on October 24, 2023. [5] [6] [7]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 100% of 24 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.8/10.The website's consensus reads: "With clarity and compassion, Milli Vanilli reframes one of pop's most infamous scandals as a sobering cautionary tale." [8]

The documentary was selected as a critic's pick by both The New York Times and Variety . [9] Both The Telegraph and The Times gave the film four out of five stars. [10] [11]

The film received three out of four stars from Christy Lemire of RogerEbert.com. She wrote, "The retelling of events that would become Milli Vanilli's ultimate undoing...emerges as a thrilling and stomach-turning adventure." [12]

Owen Gleiberman of Variety called the film a "captivating and moving documentary", writing, "...where Milli Vanilli becomes a poignant experience is in making us realize that Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus, while complicit, were not ultimately to blame. The pop music system was to blame". [13]

Chris Azzopardi of The New York Times praised the film for interviewing "...the business side of Milli Vanilli, including officials at Arista Records", and stated that Fab Morvan "raises still-relevant questions about the way the music industry exploits vulnerable performers". [14] Daniel Feinberg of the The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a mixed review, writing, "Korem presents Milli Vanilli as puppets, but the most powerful of the people who might have pulled the strings aren't here", and "Maybe Korem's primary objective is simply to make you think more about Milli Vanilli than you ever have before. In that, it's a total success". [6]

Accolades

Milli Vanilli was named Best Austin Film 2023 by the Austin Film Critics Association. [15] [16] [17] [18]

Variety named Milli Vanilli one of the best documentaries of 2023. [19]

The International Documentary Association nominated the film for Best Music Documentary of 2023. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milli Vanilli</span> German R&B group

Milli Vanilli was a German R&B music act from Munich. The act was packaged by Boney M. founder Frank Farian in 1988 and consisted of Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus as the lip-syncing dancers, with the two main studio singers, Brad Howell, John Davis and studio singers, Charles Shaw, Jodie Rocco, and Linda Rocco, with an unrelated touring band. Their debut album, as All or Nothing in Europe, and expanded, including "Baby Don't Forget My Number" and "Blame It on the Rain", composed by Diane Warren, as Girl You Know It's True in the United States, achieved international success and brought them a Grammy Award for Best New Artist on 21 February 1990.

Arista Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of BMG Entertainment, the North American division of German conglomerate Bertelsmann. Founded in November 1974 by Clive Davis and deactivated in 2011, Arista was re-established in 2018. Along with RCA Records, Columbia Records, and Epic Records, it is one of Sony Music's four flagship record labels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">32nd Annual Grammy Awards</span> Award ceremony

The 32nd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 21, 1990, and hosted by Garry Shandling. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fab Morvan</span> French singer, dancer, and model (born 1966)

Fabrice Maxime Sylvain Morvan is a French singer, dancer, and model who was half of the pop duo Milli Vanilli, along with Rob Pilatus. It was later revealed that the duo had not actually sung on any of their recordings. After the scandal, the group reformed as Rob & Fab in the 1990s with limited success. Morvan had a solo comeback in the 2000s, releasing his first solo album, Love Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Farian</span> German record producer (1941–2024)

Franz Reuther, known professionally as Frank Farian, was a German record producer and singer who founded the 1970s disco-pop group Boney M., the Latin pop band No Mercy, and the pop band Milli Vanilli. He frequently created vocal groups in which the publicised members merely lip-synced to songs sung by session members. Farian owned the record label MCI and several subsidiaries. Over the course of his career, Farian sold over 850 million records and earned 800 gold and platinum certifications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob Pilatus</span> German singer (1965–1998)

Robert Pilatus was a German singer, dancer, model, and rapper. He was a member of the pop music duo Milli Vanilli with Fab Morvan.

<i>Girl You Know Its True</i> 1989 studio album by Milli Vanilli

Girl You Know It's True is a 1989 album that served as the North American debut of German R&B duo Milli Vanilli. It is a reconfigured and repackaged version of the group's album All or Nothing for the North American market.

<i>All or Nothing</i> (Milli Vanilli album) 1988 studio album by Milli Vanilli

All or Nothing is the debut studio album by dance pop duo Milli Vanilli, released only outside of North America in November 1988. In 1989, it was repackaged and retitled Girl You Know It's True for release in North America on the Arista label, with several of the original album tracks replaced and/or remixed. All or Nothing was a moderate success, reaching the top 40 in several European countries and #1 in New Zealand. It originally reached #37 in the UK, but was packaged together with The U.S.-Remix Album: All or Nothing in 1989 under the name 2×2 and reached #6. After 1990, due to lip-synching allegations, a disclaimer sticker was added on the cover to explicitly name the singers who provided vocals on the album.

Rob & Fab was a short-lived dance-pop music duo formed and fronted by Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan in 1990, following their departure from the commercially successful but ill-fated group Milli Vanilli.

Charles Shaw is an American rapper and singer who, in 1988, performed on recordings credited to Milli Vanilli.

<i>The Moment of Truth</i> (The Real Milli Vanilli album) 1991 studio album

The Moment of Truth is the only studio album by the pop group the Real Milli Vanilli, released in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Girl You Know It's True (song)</span> 1988 single by Milli Vanilli

"Girl You Know It's True" is a song by Maryland-based group Numarx, later made internationally famed by German dance-pop group Milli Vanilli. Released as the lead single from MV's European debut album, All or Nothing (1988), and the duo's American debut album, Girl You Know It's True (1989), the song peaked at number one on the German Singles Chart, number two in the United States and number three in the United Kingdom, becoming one of Milli Vanilli's most successful singles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All or Nothing (Milli Vanilli song)</span> 1990 single by Milli Vanilli

"All or Nothing" is a song by German dance-pop group Milli Vanilli. It was released in January 1990 and was their final top 10 single, peaking at number four in the United States. This was their final single before the lip syncing scandal. In November 1990, the duo's manager, Frank Farian, publicly announced that he had fired Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus. He also confirmed long standing rumors that Morvan and Pilatus did not actually sing on any Milli Vanilli releases. Session singers had provided the lead vocals while Morvan and Pilatus lip synced to the recorded tracks when performing live.

Brad Howell is an American keyboardist, pianist, composer and singer, known as the singer who provided the vocals for German band Chilly and the actual vocals lip-synced by Rob Pilatus for the musical duo Milli Vanilli.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milli Vanilli discography</span> Band discography

This is a discography of Milli Vanilli, a pop/dance music project formed by Frank Farian in Germany in 1988, fronted by Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus.

Simon Verhoeven is a German-Austrian film director, screenwriter, film producer, former actor, and occasional film music composer.

Milli- is the SI prefix for one thousandth

Luke Korem is an American filmmaker, whose credits include directing and producing the critically acclaimed music documentary Milli Vanilli, the Showtime series Action, and the SXSW award-winning documentary Dealt. He produces under his production company banner, Keep On Running Pictures, located in Austin, TX.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Davis (singer)</span> American singer (1954–2021)

John Davis was an American singer based in Germany. He was one of the real vocalists for Milli Vanilli and The Real Milli Vanilli who, along with Brad Howell, Charles Shaw and backup vocalists Linda Rocco & Jodie Rocco, provided the real vocals for Milli Vanilli.

Girl You Know It's True is a biographical film about the controversial late-1980s/early-1990s music duo Milli Vanilli that caused one of the most infamous scandals in international pop music. Between 2021 and 2022, German-Austrian filmmaker Simon Verhoeven wrote, directed and co-produced the biopic, which was produced by Wiedemann & Berg Film, with Leonine as the theatrical distributor, released in cinemas in late 2023. The movie stars Tijan Njie and Elan Ben Ali as the lip-synching stage artists Rob Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan respectively, as well as Matthias Schweighöfer as the instigating music producer/manager Frank Farian.

References

  1. ↑ "Milli Vanilli". The Hollywood Reporter . September 13, 2023. Archived from the original on October 5, 2023. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  2. ↑ Korem, Luke (October 24, 2023), Milli Vanilli (Documentary, Biography, Music), Diane Warren, Rob Pilatus, Timbaland, Keep on Running Pictures, Fulwell 73, MTV Entertainment Studios, archived from the original on October 28, 2023, retrieved October 2, 2023
  3. ↑ Milli Vanilli|Weight of the Lie – Paramount Plus on official YouTube channel
  4. ↑ Trakin, Roy (June 8, 2023). "'Milli Vanilli' Documentary Puts Disgraced Duo's Story in New Light: 'We Were the Villains for So Long'". Variety. Archived from the original on October 2, 2023. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Milli Vanilli | 2023 Tribeca Festival". Tribeca. Archived from the original on October 2, 2023. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  6. 1 2 Fienberg, Daniel (June 13, 2023). "'Milli Vanilli' Review: Doc About Disgraced Duo Poses Intriguing Questions That It Never Satisfyingly Answers". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 2, 2023. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  7. ↑ White, Peter (June 1, 2023). "Paramount+ Snaps Up Milli Vanilli Feature Doc". Deadline. Archived from the original on June 8, 2023. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Milli Vanilli". Rotten Tomatoes . Archived from the original on October 26, 2023. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
  9. ↑ Gleiberman, Owen (June 12, 2023). "'Milli Vanilli' Review: The Saga of the Infamous Pop Duo, Now Seen from the Inside, Becomes a Captivating and Moving Documentary". Variety. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  10. ↑ Singh, Anita (October 25, 2023). "The Milli Vanilli story: from being 'better than McCartney' to being exposed as frauds". The Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  11. ↑ Midgley, Carol (November 10, 2023). "Milli Vanilli review — how a lip-syncing scandal ended in tragedy". ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  12. ↑ Christy Lemire (October 24, 2023). "Reviews Milli Vanilli". rogerebert.com. Ebert Digital. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  13. ↑ Gleiberman, Owen (June 11, 2023). "'Milli Vanilli' Review: The Saga of the Infamous Pop Duo, Now Seen from the Inside, Becomes a Captivating and Moving Documentary". Variety . Los Angeles: Variety Media. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  14. ↑ Azzopardi, Chris (October 24, 2023). "'Milli Vanilli' Review: Blame It on the Fame". [The New York Times]. New York City . Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  15. ↑ Partridge, Jon (January 3, 2024). "2023 Austin Film Critics Association Award Nominations". Austin Film Critics Association . Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  16. ↑ Neglia, Matt (January 3, 2024). "The 2023 Austin Film Critics Association (AFCA) Nominations". Next Best Picture. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  17. ↑ Anderson, Erik (January 3, 2024). "Austin Film Critics Association Nominations (AFCA): 'Killers of the Flower Moon', 'Oppenheimer' Lead with 10 Each". AwardsWatch. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  18. ↑ Whittaker, Richard. "Milli Vanilli Documentary to Get Award Screening at AFS". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  19. ↑ Peter Debruge; Owen Gleiberman; Manuel Betancourt; Catherine Bray; Dennis Harvey; Lisa Kennedy; Jessica Kiang; Richard Kuipers; Guy Lodge; Chris Willman (December 29, 2023). "The Best Documentaries of 2023". Variety. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  20. ↑ "IDA Documentary Awards 2023 Winners & Nominees". International Documentary Association. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
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