This is the second musical biopic I've watched today. The film is called "Girl
you know it's true", which was the title of Milli Vanilli's first single, but
that's ironic. None of it was true. It was a fake group created by the German
music producer Frank Farian. He recorded a song with session musicians who
were talented, but not sexy enough to appear on MTV, so he needed two front
men to perform. One single became a whole album. They went on tour lip-syncing
to their hits. Before you say that lip-syncing is common in the music
industry, this was different. Other singers lip-sync to recordings of their
own voices, but Milli Vanilli lip-synced to recordings of other musicians.
Maybe Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan could have continued the illusion if they'd
remained more modest. As it was, they indulged in drug abuse (mostly cocaine)
and forgot who they were. In an interview they described themselves as bigger
than Elvis Presley and the Beatles. Pride comes before a fall. Their
lip-syncing became apparent when the tape skipped during a concert, and their fans
turned against them. They became outcasts. They went from being millionaires
to practically broke. Rob was imprisoned for stealing a car, and shortly
afterwards he died of a drug overdose. Fab was working as a waiter,
unrecognised by his former fans.
I like the way the film is structured. It continually breaks the fourth wall.
Rob and Fab are the narrators, speaking to the audience even after Rob's
death. Franks also takes time to speak to the audience. He explains the truth
behind the lie.
It's a tragic story. Other musical biopics like
"Better Man"
show how musicians start poor and soar to the heights, overcoming adversities.
"Girl you know it's true" shows how two young men start poor, then rise up
before falling down, lower than they were when they started out. Shed a tear
for Milli Vanilli.
