Zappa is available to purchase or rent from today, and apparently, it will also be released as a DVD with material that didn’t make the film. As a primer, this documentary would complement Barry Miles’ biography reviewed by Camille Paglia and Zappa’s very own The Real Frank Zappa Book. Here are some reviews of the documentary that are not paywalled.
Los Angeles Times — Zappa’s trademark bluntness of speech seems to have permeated his entire circle, his own radical honesty creating a safe space for everyone to speak as freely as possible.
The Patriot Ledger — There’s also not nearly enough of Zappa’s later years when political advocacy became part of his repertoire, particularly attempts by Congress to censor artists like himself.
Variety — “Zappa” kicks off with the last concert appearance in which he ever played the guitar — in 1991, at the Sports Hall in Prague, where he came to share the celebration of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the Czech Republic. He was greeted like a messiah, because Zappa’s music, to many Czechs, was the incarnation of freedom.
The Wrap — Zappa, who was ailing at the time but also had a message to deliver to the Czech audience: “As you confront the changes that will take place, please try to keep your country unique.”
manwithoutqualities 