From the rhythm of his unstoppable feet, when he was a kid full of potential in the Jackson Five, to global success, Michael explores the dilemma of Michael Jackson between his family and his art, in a film directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring his nephew Jaafar, transformed down to the smallest detail into his uncle.
The film arrives in Guatemala at its premiere on Wednesday, April 22, after a preview in Berlin that brought together a large part of the Jackson family, who bathed in crowds during three days of celebrations to present the film.
This film is the big screen portrait of the life and legacy of one of the most influential artists the world has ever known. The film shows us Michael Jackson’s journey beyond music, from the discovery of his extraordinary talent as the leader of the Jackson Five to becoming a visionary star whose creative ambition sparked a tireless desire to establish himself as the biggest icon in the entertainment industry. Discovering both his life off stage and some of the most iconic performances of his solo career, MICHAEL gives us a front-row seat to get to know Michael Jackson like never before. This is where your story begins.
That is what a film focuses on that goes until 1988, when Jackson made his first solo tour to promote what was his seventh studio album, Bad.
For this reason, in the film there is no reference to some of the most controversial episodes in the singer’s life, such as the accusations of child abuse, which were uncovered in 1993, or the controversial birth of his three children.
What counts Michael It is the first stage with his brothers, in which there was a turning point: the recording of the Pepsi advertisement, in 1984, in which the pyrotechnics caused serious burns to his head.
This chapter, which is shown in the film, meant for him both a physical change, due to the loss of hair in the affected area, and a personal one.
These are some of the details told in a film in which two actors play Jackson. Little Juliano Valdi plays him as a child and his nephew Jaafar, in his early days as a star.
Jaafar Jackson, genetics and work to be Michael
Although Jaafar Jackson, son of Jermaine Jackson and the Colombian Alejandra Genevieve Oaziaza, had the factor of genetics, He had to attend acting classes to put himself in his uncle’s shoes, in addition to undergoing tough training to replicate his dance moves, which caused bleeding wounds on his feet.
This episode took place on the first day of recording, at Wembley Stadium (London), to recreate the Bad World Tour (1988), where he carried out “one of the most difficult performances,” according to Fuqua in Berlin.
Jaafar’s work that day was all that producer Graham King and Fuqua needed to convince themselves of the capabilities of the 29-year-old, who, as he confessed, never wanted to be an actor and hid the role from his family for almost a year, because he wanted to be absolutely sure he was up to the challenge.
Even clan matriarch Katherine Jackson agreed with the decision when she saw Jaafar’s screen test, saying, “That’s Michael.”
Jaafar grew up in the Jackson family home in Encino (California), which the animal-loving singer turned into a small private zoo with a chimpanzee named Bubbles, a giraffe or a llama, among other animals that the artist considered “friends.”
In the film, the house is the original, as is the street where the famous video clip of Thriller and the Grammys that accumulated in his hands at the 1984 gala.
A complicated relationship with his father
Not everything was a bed of roses for the singer of Billie Jeanand the difficult relationship with his father, Joseph Jackson (played by Colman Domingo), dominated the first stage of his life, as the film tells.
The patriarch forced the Jackson brothers to rehearse tirelessly for their performances with the Jackson Five, which catapulted them to fame.
Domingo brought his own family perspective to the character and compared him to his stepfather, a man with limited education and from a working class background, who was “very hard” on the actor, although he assured that his goal was for him to learn “to be responsible, not to get into trouble and to have a great work ethic.”
“I think to understand Joe you have to understand how different it was to be a father at that time,” he reflected at the Berlin panel.
The father’s behavior towards Michael Jackson is reflected, for example, in the comments towards his son about his nose, which generated a serious complex in the artist, who underwent multiple cosmetic operations.
In contrast, Michael Jackson’s mother, played by Nia Long, created a space “based on love and security” for her young son.