_Janis, Little Girl Blue_ is an exquisite altar to the Godess of Sorrow.

I could talk about how the film includes never before seen childhood photos (and interviews with her siblings) all the way up to the heartbreaking footage of her return to Port Arthur for her 10 year class reunion. How it's narrated by Chan Marshall (Cat Power) and includes interviews with Dick Cavett, members of Big Brother and the Holding Company, David Niehaus (her last love), Kris Kristofferson... I could talk about the concert recordings of the Monterey Pop Festival, "Little Girl Blue" live and I could tell you the opening of "Work Me Lord" at Woodstock (before the heroin derailed the performance) is everything you need to know about God.

But what makes _Janis, Little Girl Blue_ so poignant is not the honesty and sensitivity of its portrayal, it's the raw honesty and sensitivity in Janis herself that the film transmits to us through the photos and the footage and interviews.

_Janis_ is a documentary about the tragic artistry of someone who's vulnerability is frequently hurt and then given a voice that is later shared with masses of people who feel that same pain. Bless the Goddess for her sacrifice, bless Amy J Berg for making this testimony, but maybe bless most those of us who are still here and need this music more than ghosts.