REVIEW: ‘Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am’
Photo: Toni Morrison is the subject of the new documentary Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am. Photo courtesy of Timothy Greenfield-Sanders / Magnolia Pictures / Provided by press site with permission.
Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am, the new documentary about the beloved Beloved author, is a wonderfully introspective film about an American writer who has transformed the literary world and given new voice to a variety of complex, three-dimensional characters that have engaged readers for decades.
Morrison, author of such novels as Sula and Beloved, is a welcome presence throughout the two-hour documentary, which is directed by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and currently playing the Film Forum in New York City. Her taped interviews feature the author looking straight at the camera to tell the story of her life — from her upbringing to her landing an editor’s job in New York City to ultimately winning the Nobel Prize for literature. Throughout her retelling of the stories, she is powerful, funny, poignant and poetic — so too are the host of friends and contemporaries who sing her praises.
One of the main takeaways from The Pieces I Am is how Morrison paved a way for herself and other writers as she developed her unique literary voice. Morrison, an African-American woman, wanted to create a library of books that offered true perspectives of African-American characters, and looking back at her many literary accomplishments, she has done just that.
Each of her books are explored, including The Bluest Eye, which proved controversial in certain parts of the United States. There’s also a good chunk of time spent on Song of Solomon, one of her most celebrated works. The more recent novels are mentioned in brief.
Greenfield-Sanders doesn’t simply create a biopic that runs through the chapter headings of Morrison’s life. Instead, he dives deep into how personal circumstances influenced her career trajectory and the details of her writing process, her cultural impact, her exploration of narrative and her fine-tuning of characters. Morrison, to her credit, doesn’t hold back and offers a glimpse into how these modern classics came to be.
Viewers will see Morrison writing in the early morning hours of her beautiful house, contemplating selling the cinematic rights of Beloved to Oprah Winfrey and her many years as an editor of iconic African-American literature. This last résumé bullet point might be one part of Morrison’s biography that the casual reader did not know before The Pieces I Am: Before she became a world-renowned author, Morrison was a powerful New York editor who gave opportunities and editorial insight to a host of African-American authors. She even accompanied Muhammad Ali on his book tour across the country.
One of the underlying themes of The Pieces I Am is Morrison’s desire to create characters and plots on her own terms. For example, in Sula, she was after a more realistic and sympathetic portrayal of a young African-American woman. In describing Morrison’s professional desire, Greenfield-Sanders’ exploration doesn’t simply stop with a discussion of how she was inspired to craft this tale, but he also goes into the critical response, much of misguided and close-minded, of how Morrison’s work was received by the literary establishment. This gives The Pieces I Am both a first-person perspective and also societal contextualization.
Morrison is a trailblazer, and this documentary offers ringing proof of that assertion. She’s a literary hero to many people and a well-deserving winner of just about every award that can be given to a writer. The prose and poetry spoken about her in the film by her closest friends should be testament enough that this writer is a powerful literary artist and a kind, caring human being who has shaken up the status quo and offered different viewpoints that needed to be shared with readers.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am. 2019. Directed by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. Featuring Toni Morrison. Running time: 119 minutes. Magnolia Pictures. Rating: 
Currently playing the Film Forum in New York City. Click here for more information.
