For the latest edition of its Oral Histories series, Vulture dove into the production, release and legacy of Madonna: Truth or Dare, the landmark 1991 documentary. Among the participants in the story are director Alek Keshishian, Madonna's former publicist Liz Rosenberg (1983-2015) and several of the dancers that appeared in the film. (Madonna declined to be interviewed.)
• On the film's genesis: "While I was interviewing [Madonna's dancers], that's when the cog started working in my brain. I was like, Wait a second. These are all amazing kids. They're other. In some ways, they're broken, they're misfits in the world, and Madonna is playing their mother. [...] I came back and was like, 'Madonna, the movie isn't what's happening onstage. The movie is what's happening offstage with you as the maternal figure to this group of Felliniesque characters.'" -Alek Keshishian, Director
• On Madonna vs. Harvey Weinstein: "We were at a test screening of the film. Harvey began to talk to her about his ideas for the film, and she just lays into him: 'Listen, I put up the money for this movie. I don't care what your point of view is. I never want to hear it. Who the hell are you to tell me what kind of film I should be doing? This is mine and Alek's. Shut up and I don't ever want to hear another one of your ideas about it.' He just crumpled." -Barry Alexander Brown, Editor
"Even in public, Madonna was like, 'Get away from me, you smell like a fucking ashtray.'" -Keshishian
• On Madonna's duality: "I was really pleased that it showed the quiet moments of hers. A lot of the press almost looked at those quiet moments like they were fake. But I saw a lot more of that than I saw of the big on-camera Madonna. The quieter, more pensive Madonna who had things at risk and was committed to social issues and our relationships-that's the Madonna I admired, respected, and fell in love with the most." -Kevin Stea, Dancer
• On the film's legacy: "Madonna was encouraging people to express themselves, and now a lot of that messaging, while it's good, is not revolutionary anymore. Everyone's making their quote-unquote Truth or Dare, but none of it has that impact." -Keshishian
This is the story of Madonna’s groundbreaking documentary "Truth or Dare," as told by those who made it happen
https://t.co/IHWrBHt93D- New York Magazine (@NYMag)
May 6, 2021 Source