Marianne Faithfull is remembered as one of the most daring voices of the 1960s, but in a new documentary she offers an unflinching look at the chaos that often swirled around her, including a night Faithfull, who passed away earlier this year, took LSD just before she gave a now-infamous interview.
The story emerges in Broken English, a tribute that premieres August 30 at the Venice Film Festival, seven months after Faithfull’s death at age 78.
Directed by Jane Pollard and Iain Forsyth, the film traces her journey following her tragic death, with Oscar-winning Tilda Swinton guiding viewers through archival footage and fresh reflections.
Faithfull recounts that her candor in the press was sometimes fueled by excess.
“The night before I did this interview, Mick and I had taken LSD, and maybe that affected me,” she says in the film, adding that her outspoken opinions “caused a lot of trouble, that I talked too much, too openly, and eventually what happened was that they came down on us.”
Structured like an extended This Is Your Life, the film includes new interviews by actor George MacKay and performances of her songs by guest artists.
Beth Orton revisits As Tears Go By, Suki Waterhouse takes on Sister Morphine, and Courtney Love joins Thurston Moore and members of Portishead and My Bloody Valentine for a raw version of Time’s Square.
Archival clips also show a teenage Faithfull seated beside Bob Dylan in D.A. Pennebaker’s 1967 documentary Don’t Look Back.
Asked years later about that moment, she quipped, “He was coming on to me… If I had a dollar for every cute man who’s told me, ‘This song, this poem is about you, darling,’ I’d be rich.”
The film closes on a poignant note. Swinton announces that Faithfull died before production wrapped, but not before recording one last performance.
She appears without breathing tubes, singing her 2018 song Misunderstanding alongside Nick Cave on piano.
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