Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) (2025)
Directed by: Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson
Premise: A documentary about the band Sly and the Family Stone, focusing on frontman Sylvester Stewart. The film explores the band’s style and legacy.
What Works: Sly Lives! comes from musician and filmmaker Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson who had previously directed the documentary Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) which was about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. Sly Lives! is not as revelatory as Summer of Soul but it is a worthy companion piece. Like Questlove’s previous documentary, Sly Lives! has an upbeat tone that’s in keeping with the music and puts the band in its historical context. Sly and the Family Stone were a multiracial music group operating at a time of both dramatic social progress and high racial tension. The filmmakers address the way their music fit into that moment. Sly Lives! also takes a close look at the music itself. These kinds of showbusiness documentaries sometimes get caught up in the sex, drugs, and rock and roll at the expense of analyzing the artistry. The commentators of Sly Lives! discuss the band’s work and highlight what made it unique. They also connect the band’s body of work to later songs and qualify Sly and the Family Stone’s considerable influence on future generations of musicians.
What Doesn’t: As a documentary, Sly Lives! is mostly conventional. It mixes talking head interviews with archival footage and does that well but the production is standard retrospective filmmaking. As a biography, Sly Lives! does not actually reveal very much about its subject. Sylvester Stewart remains at a distance and the filmmakers avoid any meaningful discussion of his personal life or even his musical influences. Stewart is known as a reclusive figure; he was not interviewed for this documentary and only appears in archival footage. The filmmakers are caught between wanting to tell Stewart’s life story but also preserve the mystery of his public image. That tension results in the film keeping Stewart at a distance. The subtitle of Sly Lives! is The Burden of Black Genius. The filmmakers suggest that artistic gifts come with a burden that is unique to people of color. This idea isn’t very credible and it’s not explored in any depth. There’s little evidence that Sly Stewart’s experience with fame and music was somehow different from equivalent performers of other ethnic backgrounds.
Disc extras: Available on Hulu.
Bottom Line: Sly Lives! The Burden of Black Genius is made with energy and the film is a satisfying tribute to Sly and the Family Stone that ought to play for fans and newcomers. The documentary might not reveal as much as it intends to and this is a standard show business biography but Sly Lives! is well made.
Episode: #1036 (February 23, 2025)