Charming and brutal

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Alberta Hunter was singing with King Oliver's band when they hired 15-year-old Louis Armstrong, she wrote Bessie Smith's first hit, she starred opposite Paul Robeson in "Showboat" in London, the first use of Dufay Colour in Britain was for a musical segment of hers.Then, despite touring the world, work died off and she became a nurse until mandatory retirement, at which point she made a comeback singing — at age 82!The woman lived, and the spark still in her makes this documentary irresistible. You don't have to like blues, or the jazz age, or music — just life.Anytime I watch this film, I feel charged and ready to take anything on. The same has been true for anyone I've shown it to.