Zappa

2020
15
2h 9m

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

3.8K

YOUR RATING

With unfettered access to the Zappa family trust and all archival footage, 'Zappa' explores the private life behind the mammoth musical career that never shied away from the political turbulence of its time.

Play trailer2:03

7 Videos

5 Photos

Biography Documentary History Music

An in-depth look into the life and work of musician Frank Zappa.An in-depth look into the life and work of musician Frank Zappa.An in-depth look into the life and work of musician Frank Zappa.

Director
- Alex Winter
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

3.8K

YOUR RATING

Director
- Alex Winter
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 5 nominations total

Top cast99+

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Frank Zappa

Self
(archive footage)

Lonnie Lardner

Self - Newscaster for Action News
(archive footage)

Patrice Zappa

Self - Frank Zappa's Sister
(archive footage)

Carl Zappa

Self - Frank Zappa's Brother
(archive footage)

Rose Zappa

Self - Frank Zappa's Mother
(archive footage)

Francis Zappa

Self - Frank Zappa's Father
(archive footage)

Edgard Varèse

Self
(archive footage)

Don Van Vliet

Self
(archive footage)
(as Captain Beefheart)

Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention

Themselves
(archive footage)

Johnny 'Guitar' Watson

Self
(archive footage)

Pamela Zarubica

Self - Zappa's Roommate

The Beatles

Themselves
(archive footage)

Bunk Gardner

Self - Played with Zappa 1966-1969

Ian Underwood

Self - Played with Zappa 1967-1975

Ruth Underwood

Self - Played with Zappa 1967-1976

Gail Zappa

Self - Frank Zappa's Wife

Tom Wilson

Self - Music Producer
(archive footage)

Euclid James 'Motorhead' Sherwood

Self - Baritone Saxophone
(archive footage)
(as Motorhead Sherwood)
…

I gave this my own title because I feel that was the focus. And it's very well done! This movie gives you the full spectrum of Frank Zappa. It doesn't sugar coat the subject. While showing his brilliance it shows his flaws. The parts dealing with his end of life can be very emotional as it should be. Considering the vast volume of source material I was hoping for more of the Garrick Theater era, but it wasn't to be. Perhaps it's not available. Maybe some longer clips of concert material too. But it isn't that type of film. Hopefully everyone will see just how talented and driven Frank Zappa is from watching this. Alex Winter does a great job of showing his talent as a composer. Only lacking in showing what a proficient guitar player he was. Never really emphasized how ground breaking he was in that area. I still highly recommend seeing the movie!

burntweney
Nov 23, 2020
Permalink

Videos7

Zappa: Bruce Bickford

Clip 1:37

Zappa: The Black Page Performance

Clip 0:58

Zappa: Gail And Frank Zappa's Relationship

Photos4

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The film was not financed by crowdfunding, contrary to popular belief. The Kickstarter campaign was aimed solely at preserving and restoring the contents of the Zappa vault. The film that resulted from that preservation was itself financed by conventional backers.

Goofs
In the opening titles, it says, Zappa played a concert in the Czech Republic on 24 June 1991, to celebrate the fairly recent departure of Russian troops. It was in fact still Czechoslovakia then.

It then incorrectly states that this was his last recorded guitar performance, but that was in fact one week later at a smaller concert in Budapest.

Quotes
Ruth Underwood: It was that type of music that he could produce that was a product of everything that was in him. But you couldn't really categorize it. You couldn't say, Oh yeah, that's rock and roll, 'cause it wasn't.
Ruth Underwood: It's jazz. No. It really wasn't. It's pop music. No. Not at all. Well, what the hell is it?
Ruth Underwood: It's Zappa.