Movie Review: The Pieces I Am”  

By Lady Catherine

What a phenomenal collection and recap of an extraordinary woman. Listening to her charismatic tone of her reading voice was like sitting at my grandmother’s feet while she told a story of her life. I was hungry for more. This amazing documentary makes you feel as though you’re watching several commendable films at once. It was such an informative and touching framework of a remarkable woman. I found it well balanced filled with much of Toni’s intelligence and expressive views. I will surely have this in my private library. 

This film is one of the best documentaries I've heard in a long time. For Toni to give us a view into her life was priceless. With Toni being 88, and willing to tell her personal story as frankly, wholeheartedly and gently as she does in this collection, is a spectacular treat that keeps on giving throughout the film’s two enchanting hours. To know that she lived and still living a full life pleases my inner being, especially how she talks about her most prized recipes along with her writings.

Toni’s empathetic overview of the characters in her stories are strikingly impressive. The way this documentary is woven together with a rich collection of art, history, literature and personality, this film will keep you captivated. It also includes discussions about her many unapologetic acclaimed works. I can only imagine her sense of accomplishment when she won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. Being the first black woman to accomplish such an achievement didn’t affect her.

Timothy Greenfield-Sanders was hands down the perfect choice to pull off such a magnificent film that explores and revel’s Toni’s lifelong literary background. It pairs well with his extensive, acclaimed background in portrait photography and documentary filmmaking, plus a 38-year friendship with Toni designed with artistry, solemnness and grace.

How much can you say about someone who writes? There is only so much footage you can watch of a person that is a writer. Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am will take away all doubt due to how Timothy weaved together her story with an extensive collection of art, history, and literature.  

The way Toni’s friends, colleagues, critics and an array of esteemed writers give their perspective views, offers even more validation for such a superb individual. 

I found this film to be a profound representation of recounting painful memories from the Civil War, Jim Crow era and African American history. It doubled as a tribute to Toni and the biographical aspects of her connection in history we never knew about. 

A passage taken from her book “Beloved”, “The Pieces I Am,” will inspire viewers to read or reread Toni’s novels but also encourage artists to strive for authenticity and independence in their work, tell unfamiliar stories and, perhaps most importantly, “love yourself first.”

I give Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am a 5-star rating for giving us a chance to relish the charisma and wisdom of Toni Morrison.