TIFF 2024 Review: Piece by Piece -“takes the genre in a different direction”

The life and career of singer and producer Pharrell Williams gets the LEGO animation treatment.

 While having discussions with filmmaker Morgan Neville, Pharrell Williams suggests that the way he sees the world and music will be better represented by colourful LEGO building blocks and with the help of computer animation, this is exactly the approach adopted for storytelling.  Recorded interviews with Pharell Williams, Gwen Stefani, Kendrick Lamar, and Jay-Z retain a documentary feel to the unconventional approach which benefits from being able to create every frame as it allows for seamless shot and scene transitions.

Considering image is everything, one could just imagine the discussions had about what the LEGO counterpart would look like with even Morgan Neville making an appearance.  The colourful palette is at its full vibrancy and effect when a young Pharell Williams is listening to the ghetto blaster and the music is blaring through the speakers.  The musical beats that have made Williams a superstar producer are given a clever visual representation, and his future manager literally and figuratively losing his head is played for great comedic effect.

Neville has developed a niche and knack for doing music documentaries, and his confidence is on full display.  Despite some personal and career-low points being depicted, this is a celebration of Williams which at times comes across as a brand extension.  Can we expect more LEGO-styled documentaries?  Not sure if this is viable enough to become a trend but it is an honourable effort to take the genre in a different direction much like what the star of the show did for music.

The 49th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 5-15, 2024, and for more information visit tiff.net.    

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada; he can be found at LinkedIn.