A new documentary about Sir Elton John’s final tour, co-directed by his husband David Furnish, has premiered at the London Film Festival.
The Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour played to audiences around the world between 2018 and 2023, longer than expected due to delays enforced by the pandemic.
Elton John: Never Too Late focuses on the star’s return to Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, 47 years after he first played in front of 110,000 fans at the venue.
But the documentary, which has just played the London Film Festival, has had a mixed reception from critics.
Variety said “The original King of Pop gets the satisfying documentary he deserves”, but the Guardian described it as a “thin portrait of a musical genius”.
The tour footage is interspersed with archive material focusing on Sir Elton’s popularity earlier in his career, particularly in the 1970s.
Furnish and Sir Elton were among the guests attending the film’s London premiere at the Royal Festival Hall on Thursday.
The film’s release follows a biopic, Rocketman, which came out in 2019 and starred Taron Egerton as Sir Elton.
The new documentary is produced by Sir Elton’s husband and manager David Furnish, who also co-directs it with RJ Cutler.
It focuses on Sir Elton’s 2022 concert at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, a venue he first played in 1975.
Using the stadium as a common denominator allows the film’s timeline to jump back and forth and explore how Sir Elton, and society around him, has changed over the decades.
The most obvious difference is the attitude towards homosexuality. Sir Elton said he was bisexual in a 1976 interview with Rolling Stone. He reflects in the film that being open about his sexuality hurt his career.
Source: BBC
