From the Collection: Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling
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Richard Pryor’s autobiographical dramedy Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling was recently added to the Criterion Collection.
One of the greatest comedians of all time, Richard Pryor gets raw and real in this brutally funny and lacerating self-portrait. Following the notorious incident in which he caught on fire while high on cocaine, nearly losing his life, Pryor exorcised his inner demons by writing, producing, directing, and starring in this dizzying hall-of-mirrors biopic and backstage drama, which traces a young comedian’s rise to fame, from his childhood growing up in a brothel to the colorful experiences that shaped his edgy comic voice to the addiction struggles that brought him to the brink of death. As he did in his legendary stand-up sets, here Pryor fearlessly turns his soul inside out, revealing the deep vulnerability that made his art so compelling.
Here’s What the Disc Includes:
- New 4K digital restoration, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
- New interview on the film with filmmaker Robert Townsend
- Interview with director Richard Pryor from a 1985 episode of The Dick Cavett Show
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An appreciation by critic Hilton Als
- New cover by Matt Small
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Richard Pryor is an icon. From his performances on the big screen to his stand-up comedy, Pryor will forever be remembered as one of the greatest comedy giants we’ve ever seen. This is what makes Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling such a remarkable film. I don’t know if I have ever seen a movie where a megastar the size of Pryor showed such a raw portrait of themselves for everyone to see. Following an incident in which Pryor lit himself on fire while freebasing cocaine, Pryor wrote, directed, and starred in a film in which he plays a character named Jo Jo Dance who goes through a similar incident and then reflects on his life while he lays on a hospital bed on the verge of death. Jo Jo’s life mirrors Pryor’s almost identically, from his upbringing to getting his break in stand-up comedy to his crippling drug addiction.
While it seems heavy, Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling is still hilarious, as you’d expect from a Richard Pryor film. Pryor gives the best performance of his career in Jo Jo Dancer, perfectly balancing his comedic genius with his underrated dramatic chops. It takes a lot for anyone to bear their soul as Pryor did here and while he has some regrets about what he showed people, Jo Jo Dancer showed a fearlessness that we came to expect from Pryor. It’s a startling, tough, comedic exploration of one’s life and unlike any biopic ever made.
Also, I love the cover by Matt Small. Pryor’s face takes up the entire cover and it looks like a colorful mirror or a window was shattered and put back together, beautifully symbolizing everything this movie is about and how Pryor felt when he was making this film.
You can pick up Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling at the Criterion Collection website or anywhere Criterion Collection movies are sold.
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From the Collection is an analysis piece of non-new-release movies, whether seen on DVD, streaming, or in a theater. It includes a brief history of the film, a review of the film, and content about the experience of seeing the film and/or the contents of the film’s DVD.
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