“He was a nice, loving person. He helped me with my career, with my creativity - but he also attacked me for seven years. ”
The introductory words from Wade Robson set the tone for both the film and his own relationship with Michael Jackson. The other protagonist, James Safechuck, who was the star's favorite a few years earlier, has basically the same attitude.
They talk about Jackson with some kind of warmth, about how they loved him, despite what he had done to them. About how they even became jealous when the star tired of them and they were replaced by a younger boy.
Complex. Like the human psyche.
Four hours of Leaving Neverland is a fundamentally depressing experience. Mainly, of course, because of the testimony of both men. You get disgusted, cursed, sad. But also because it is a document about how star cult can distort people's views.
They were two little boys who got the attention of Michael Jackson. The king of pop. It was clear that they felt flattered by his attendance. It is harder to understand that parents could let their young children sleep in the same bed as a stranger. Because they knew so much anyway.
Their feelings of guilt are obviously colossal.
But still, it's not a sensational movie. At least not in its shape. Only the long driving time is in itself a high threshold for those who want quick, speculative gossip.
Instead, it is like a tranquil shoveling. The two men tell straight up and down about their experiences, about how they were selected, groomed, manipulated. Goes into detail about how the King of Pop assaulted them: "His lips around my seven year old penis".
Only towards the end do they begin to tremble at the voice.
It's also a poignant story about denial, about vulnerable children who aren't believed, about how Jackson, like producer Harvey "#metoo" Weinstein was protected by a multi-headed staff, and a culture of silence that made sure to sweep the shit under the carpet.
It took several years before Wade Robson took the leaf out of his mouth, then he already has his own family. The mental breakdown becomes monumental, as is the case for his accident brother James Safechuck. Decades of silence, depressed feelings and public denials finally take their toll.
From a cinematic point of view, Leaving Neverland suffers from its extended length, especially the first of the two two-hour episodes is repetitively repetitive, at least an hour too long. The sometimes imposed strings and a little too thoughtful lighting give the interviews an unnecessarily styled sense of Hollywood snipers, but that's usually what American mainstream documentary looks like. If they are not made by Michael Moore, of course.
The other part has more fabric per running meter. It depicts the trials that freed Jackson, his gradual decline, the boys' lives after Neverland, and not least how their respective families are torn apart by the events.
The film has met resistance in the United States, from fans and from Michael Jackson's family who believe it is just another shameful attempt to make money by sinking the pop king's mantle. And of course, it's impossible to know how much is true in what is being said, but Leaving Neverland is undeniably compelling.
Thanks to its detail, the consistent testimonies, from the now grown boys but also from others all around.
But publicity hunger and greed are, of course, always included as a possible factor when famous people are accused of wrongdoing. And although the film in its expression does not breathe sensationalism, its very existence is speculative, in that it accuses one of our greatest pop icons.
And is not just the fact that SVT broadcasts this film, and that I am writing about it, another aspect of star culture? I mean ... if the movie was about Nisse in the Hökarängen, you wouldn't have read this review.
However, it is no coincidence that the documentaries about singer R Kelly (Surviving R Kelly), Michael Jackson and Harvey Weinstein (Untouchable) are coming right now. We are in the aftermath of metoo, where the industry is washing its dirty tummy. A time when social media makes it harder to keep a secret (unfortunately even easier to spread lies) but above all important: where you have started listening to the victims.
Which gives an extra sad shade to Leaving Neverland, which is indirectly reminiscent of Michael Jackson's own broken story. A person who was systematically abused and degraded as a child. Wounds never worked, as he tried to self-medicate away by building bubbly fantasy worlds, or by skin-bleaching, plastic surgery that would make him resemble idol Elizabeth Taylor, and drugs. A tormented boy in an adult man's body. He too was a victim no one listened to.
Leaving Neverland will be released on Svt Play on Sunday 10 March.