I’M GOING TO TELL YOU A SECRET

I’M GOING TO TELL YOU A SECRET

The documentary “I’m Going To Tell You A Secret” is beautifully shot and is quite inspirational. Uplifting and optimistic, it takes you on a journey from the beginning to the end of the creative adventure of this project. It is a more mature Madonna that allows the viewer to see a certain side of her that has long been developing.

Those who were expecting something more playful like her other documentary projects, they will be disappointed, but shouldn’t be surprised because it is nothing like anything you have seen from Madonna before. Many people will ask, “what is her secret?” Is it metaphoric or was it an attention getter?

The documentary is a revelation of the essence of her happiness — her family and spirituality aside from all things material.

• This documentary was shot during the Re-Invention World Tour in 2004
• It was directed by Jonas Akerlund with whom she had worked before
• There were two different crews filming during the tour
• One crew was with Jonas and they mostly filmed Madonna, the dancers, band and her children. The other crew mostly filmed the fans and fan events
• For the live footage the last two shows in Paris were filmed (September 4 and 5) as well as the final shows in Lisbon (though the latter was intended for separate concert DVD release)
• Madonna was very much in control of what would be filmed and reviewed all the footage herself
• She attended the New York premiere, fans could win tickets through contests
• She also attended the European premiere in London at the Chelsea Cinema in November 2005
• Madonna & Guy Oseary personally invited 200 fans who queued outside to get tickets for the album launch of ‘Confessions On A Dance Floor’ at Koko in Camden in November 2005
• Madonna watched the entire movie together with the audience in London
• The documentary was finally released on DVD+CD combo in June 2006
• This release brought Madonna’s first ever live album including 13 live songs from the show plus the original demo to “I Love New York”
• The extra’s on the DVD include deleted scenes
• The original plan was to show “IGTTYAS” at the filmfestival in Cannes in May 2005
• The first finished version of I’m Going To Tell You A Secret turned out to be extremely long, however Madonna and others who had seen it, were very pleased with the outcome after all the hours of editing. Due to the running time, the idea was to either release it as a mini series (reality TV) or as a two-part movie. Later it was decided to cut the film to a regular running time so it could be shown in movie theaters
• Some of the cut footage was later released as an extra feature on the DVD, but many hours of material still remain unseen