Let’s be clear: Anita Pallenberg doesn’t show the energy of the main character in the documentary Anita, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last week. She’s not playing a character, but this time she has the mic. Directed by Brooklynites Alexis Bloom and Svetlana Zier, the film, narrated by Scarlett Johansson, is based on what Pallenberg’s family discovered after Pallenberg’s death. In an unpublished manuscript, she worked closely with the filmmakers to tell a nuanced story of an inspiring, troubled woman who came close to being mythologized and sidelined by the Rolling Stones.
Pallenberg’s relationship with Jones violently disintegrated in Anita For the record, she was also in a longer relationship with Keith Richards, which resulted in three children. Richards’ contribution and Pallenberg’s words create a musical harmony, but there is room for dissonance. It seems that even rock musicians have traditional ideas about the role of women. While Richards was on the road, Pallenberg stayed home with the kids. She wrote that he offered to pay her not to return to acting.
This is not to belittle him. Richards’ insights are some of the most moving and poignant in the film. His take on Pallenberg’s vitality is that it’s partly a reaction to, and an escape from, the horrors of war. “I fell in love with Anita, with her independence, with her absolute determination to be free,” he says in the film. “I was confused at first, and then I started to realize that we were both these war babies. You see, war was all your life growing up; Anita just fucking wanted to kick it out.”
HEAR About 2023 is especially interesting at a time when fashion is romanticizing post-war icons and styles in the wake of the pandemic and surrounding social upheaval. Inexplicably, however, he chose to use an American voice to tell about Pallenberg’s upbringing on the continent. In the end, after many attempts, the directors chose to focus on capturing Pallenberg’s signature raucous grunt, rather than her personality. With that decision, Bloom says, they’re looking for “someone who makes you think they smoke and drink — someone with sexy DNA who can be a convincing badass.”
