Netflix is set to debut the three-act jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy. However, Kanye “Ye” West recently requested to have “final edit and approval” of the documentary before it is made available on the global streaming platform.
There could be specific reasons why Kanye West wants to be in charge of how he is presented in jeen-yuhs. The 280-minute-long portrait of Ye debuted at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, and it appears the final half-hour of the doc shows West spiraling downward.
Entertainment reporters were able to screen the jeen-yuhs at Sundance, and a few early reviews have already been published. According to multiple reports, there are scenes in the film that may not paint Ye in the best light.
The Daily Beast‘s Senior Entertainment Editor Marlow Stern writes:
At various points, the filmmakers even opt to stop filming West as he starts to spiral in order to preserve their friend’s reputation—e.g. a surreal sequence in the Dominican Republic where, during a clandestine meeting with a pair of shady-looking real estate developers, West keeps bringing the conversation back to his 5150 psychiatric hold. They decide to put the camera down after he randomly compares the blowback in the wake of the Taylor Swift incident to being pulled apart by horses.
The Daily Beast
USA Today‘s National Music Writer Melissa Ruggieri writes:
It’s apparent as the film rolls on that Ye’s medications have slowed his speech – his voice sounds deeper and more deliberate – and [director Clarence Simmons] is aware and respectful of his friend’s challenges. A 2020 meeting with real estate friends in the Dominican Republic turns into a diatribe, even though Ye tells them, “I took bipolar medication last night to have a normal conversation.” But the rapper’s discourse becomes so scattered, Simmons stops filming.
USA Today
Variety‘s Features Editor Chris Willman writes:
In conversation with a group of real estate investors, West says, “I (took) bipolar medication last night to have a normal conversation and turn alien into English. I cannot communicate in a way that people understand in public because it’s just truth and we’re in a world of lies.” Moments later, Simmons admits he was disturbed enough, as a friend, to turn off the camera.
Variety
Jeen-yuhs filmmakers Clarence “Coodie” Simmons and Chike Ozah spoke to Variety about editing 330 hours of Kanye West footage into a three-part documentary. The longtime directorial partners admitted West had not seen the doc at the time of their Variety interview.
“[Kanye West] has no control over [jeen-yuhs]. He trusts us. We’re not making a biased film. We’re not trying to make a commercial for Kanye,” said Chike Ozah.
The co-director of West’s “Through the Wire” music video added, “It’s more just like celebrating and showing this relationship between these two men [West and Simmons]. It is not meant to skew you in one direction or not.”
Kanye West previously revealed he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and that he battled with opioid addiction as well as body dysmorphia. The cover of his 2018 studio album, Ye, included the wording: “I hate being bi-polar its [sic] awesome.”
Coodie Simmons told Variety, “There’s a lot that happens [in jeen-yuhs] both good and bad that he had to come to terms with and it’s going [to] be powerful when he finally sees the films.”