DVD Corner

Joan Baez: I Am A Noise Blu-ray Review

“Joan Baez: I Am A Noise” is an insightful documentary.  

“Joan Baez: I Am A Noise” is a documentary about the titular legendary folk singer. The film (which is directed by Miri Navasky, Maeve O’Boyle and Kevin O’Connor) isn’t just another talking heads documentary about a musician. This documentary takes a different approach in that it focuses on the past and present (2018 to be exact) and heavily features archival footage and interviews, therapy tapes, journals, home movies, and photos alongside newly recorded footage and interviews with Joan at home in California and during her farewell tour. The narrative is less about her career and more about who she is as a person as we (the audience) learn about her family, non-violent political activism, her romances, her mental health struggles, and past trauma that weighed on her for decades.

After being featured in “A Complete Unknown” (and being wonderfully played by Monica Barbaro), Joan Baez is back in the limelight again. As such, this 2023 documentary has received a new Blu-ray release courtesy of Magnolia. 

For those that may not know, Joan Baez has long been a rather enigmatic artist, but that all changed with “Joan Baez: I Am A Noise.” In many ways this film acts as a sort of cathartic confessional for Baez as she bares her soul and reveals her internal struggles and sheds more light on her past and family. Yes, her career highlights, her time with Bob Dylan, and her activism is covered here, but for the most part, this is a rather deep examination of Baez’s life that tackles a lot of heavy subject matters. Her mental health struggles (and what caused them) takes center stage for much of the documentary as she confronts them and ultimately is able to move past them.

Baez is also quite honest in talking about everything from aging and fame to her relationships with her sisters and her love of dancing. This documentary refreshingly does manage to pack a lot in about who Baez is as a person and an artist and isn’t the type of surface level congratulatory/back patting docs you often see about artists and bands. For that it deserves credit.

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 1.78:1 1080p. Grade: B+

Audio Track: 5.1 DTS-HD MA. Grade: B+

The only extras are trailers for other Magnolia titles.

February 28, 2025 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Joan Baez, Joan Baez Documentary, Joan Baez: I Am A Noise Blu-ray Review