UTE: Keeping the Spirit movie review

MOVIE TITLE: UTE: Keeping the Spirit

This inspirational documentary was written and produced by Kurt Wipfli. It’s now available on Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, DirecTV, iNDemand, Vubiquity, and Microsoft.

RATING: G

LENGTH: 1 hour 12 minutes

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: B

IN A NUTSHELL:

This sweet documentary was directed by Aaron Lee Lopez the movie follows the bold, daring, and impossible-to-ignore UTE. The German singer-songwriter brings her uplifting anthems to the global stage. She has amassed a following in the millions worldwide for her inspiring story and irresistibly infectious positive outlook on life. Here’s one artist that’s impossible to put in a box. UTE is always pushing boundaries and trying different sounds, though they can be distinguished by her soft, low voice over a solid jazz-adult contemporary backbone. So even in hard times, UTE keeps her dream alive, as she loves nothing more than to connect with others through her songs in hopes of inspiring others to follow their dreams.

THINGS I LIKED:

Some Americans may not be familiar with Ute Lemper. She’s an award-winning singer, composer, painter, and actress from Munster, Germany. Her mother was an opera singer. If she doesn’t look familiar to you, check out some of her performances on her YouTube channel called Utelempersmusic. She’s quite a performer! She sings and speaks German, Spanish, French, and English!
We get to watch Ute record some of her new music in a sound studio. The lyrics become much more meaningful as we learn about her personal life.
It’s fascinating to hear what’s important to Ute after all of her fame and fortune: her parents and her dogs.
It’s lovely to see how supportive Ute’s siblings are. We get to see some of them being interviewed.
How wonderful for her to be able to have film crews follow her around, interested in her life, allowing her to see that people are still very much interested in her music and talents, despite her current physical limitations.
It’s touching to hear Ute speak so lovingly about her parents. In her new songs, you can hear the sorrow she feels after their deaths, yet she still has an infectious attitude of joy.
We also get to see a lot of pictures of Ute’s parents at the end of the movie. She looks so much like her mother, who was her best friend. Sweet.
The film gets its name from one of her new songs where she sings about keeping the spirit and wanting to live life to its fullest, saying “Life has so much more for me.”

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

People who don’t know who Ute is will probably not be interested in this film.
It would have been fun to see video clips of Ute at the height of her musical career at the beginning of the movie so we could really celebrate her accomplishments with her. It would also help viewers who aren’t familiar with her to get to know her better.
Sometimes, the background music is so loud that it’s hard to hear what the people are saying during the interviews.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Kids will be bored.
There are subtitles that need to be read when German is spoken.
No profanity
Nothing offensive at all.
Ute is in a wheelchair during the entire film.

THEMES:

Expression
Artistry
Music
Love for life
Family
Positive attitude
The power of pets

FUNNY LINES:

None worth noting.

INTERESTING LINES:

“Life has a fine way of making twists and turns for me.” – Ute
“My music will touch others and teach them that you can do anything if you set your mind to it.” – Ute