Grace Jones scared me when I was young. She also intrigued me. My teenage brain found her work angry and masculine, yet sensual and powerful. I could not compute. After watching this documentary, it all makes sense. Grace Beverly Jones holds many worlds within her.

She is the poor girl from rural Spanish Town, Jamaica. She is the oyster shucking, fur enrobed disco queen of the eighties. She is the battered child. She is the phoenix that took on the persona of her aggressor, angry and masculine. She is the original performance artist at 1.79m, with skinny legs, large shoes and exaggerated hats. She is mischievous and competitive. She is fiery. She is loyal. She is now a grandmother. She is still a rock star.

Director Sophie Fiennes shows you all of this. She deftly cuts between extraordinary concert footage and chaotic family get togethers; quiet, misty scenes of forests and lakes versus a glitzy, noisy Paris nightclub; the poor rural Jamaica, versus the glam of oysters, champagne and TV appearances. Thankfully Fiennes stays away from her days with Dolph Lundgren and Andy Warhol and focuses on her private life and her performance art, thus, what she will be remembered for.

Fiennes also leaves out details such as dates, names and locations. This is confounding at times, but in the end adds to the mystery that is Grace Jones. It certainly forced me to reacquaint myself with the legend. Hopefully it will compel many others to rediscover her.

Catch this doccie at the upcoming Joburg Film Festival.