Madonna: The Unauthorised Biopic
"Madonna: Innocence Lost" is based upon the unauthorised biography of Madonna by Christopher Andersen. That should be any fans first warning sign as to me unauthorized means that whilst there will be some fact there will also be some fiction. At the same time this made for TV movie pre-warns us that whilst based on fact it uses some composite characters which for anyone who doesn't know means that in order to create drama some characters will have been changed to make the whole thing work. Basically for fans of Madonna "Madonna: Innocence Lost" will cover familiar ground, twist things and portray Madonna in a certain light, the light which the media portrays her in.
Now having sad that what we get is a walk through of Madonna's early years from her mother dying, leaving home for the city, working in a donut shop and training at a dance school which then goes on to cover her early rise to fame as well as her relationship with her father. All of which is entertaining enough for those who remember growing up listening to early Madonna.
The thing is that "Madonna: Innocence Lost" has a mission and that is to portray who Madonna was rather than what happened to her and the version of Madonna we are presented with is influenced by the media. So yes we see that she had a rough time when she arrived in the city but was driven enough to go after what ever she wanted. But we also get shown a manipulative side of her and a willingness to do what ever it takes to get fame and fortune to the point some may say that the way she is portrayed in the movie is as a slut. It is a conflicted portrayal but one which does make it very clear that young Madonna was a woman who knew what she wanted and was willing to do what ever it took to succeed.
Performance wise well "Madonna: Innocence Lost" is all about Terumi Matthews and whilst she didn't convince me as the young Madonna she did do a good of portraying a vibrant young woman who was confident, sexy, smart and ruthlessly driven. It makes for a very interesting character and one who grabs your attention right from the word go even if it isn't 100% authentic.
What this all boils down to is that "Madonna: Innocence Lost" is not going to be a movie which will work for real Madonna fans as the switching around of facts and the portrayal of Madonna as ruthless won't go down well. But as a drama about a woman called Madonna who was determined to succeed and driven enough to do what ever it took to achieve it, it kind of works.
