Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold Review

Consider what Joan Didion did to hold her centre together. The Year of Magical Thinking is abrupt and seeks out light and brevity in tragic times. Her coverage documented in annals such as Slouching Toward Bethlehem showcase a courageous, almost unconvinced look at the booming cultural oddities of the time, from the hippie movement to the John Wayne era. Didion’s legacy is clear, her work influential and her abilities documented clearly and succinctly in Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold. Recalling the highs and lows of life as a working journalist, author and person, Didion provides ample detail to the well-lived works and experiences she granted audiences access to.

To understand the centre Didion speaks of so eloquently throughout this Destiny Thomas-directed piece is to engage with the works and literary achievements of a great journalist. Colleagues are questioned about the early years and the fundamental qualities of Didion’s work as a reporter at Vogue. These are important moments that Thomas dedicates ample time to, in making sure no stone is left unturned is to get to the core of Didion’s work. Popular works and best works are never as similar as often perceived – and as it turns out Didion is no stranger to the elusive articles that slipped by as undersung masterpieces. They are focused with clarity and simplicity in this documentary feature, made for Netflix but sadly absent from the UK editions of the streaming site.

It is not just nonfiction fundamentals that Didion dabbled in, but fiction writing, influential moments in a career littered with effective and award-winning brilliance. The Center Will Not Hold is a unique piece in the sense that it adds context to the most important moments of her career, and those moments are not the expected endeavours. Didion regales, to the camera and with great stoicism, the rocky details of her own life and tribulations as well as that of her own family. This dedication to the truth, which struck Didion throughout her career and in her writing so clearly, gives The Center Will Not Hold, ironically, a centre to depend on. It holds.

Are the lives of all journalists as fragmented and painfully underdeveloped as the heyday and horror of Didion? Yes. There comes clarity from disaster and disaster from a push for the next level. Didion’s grief, inspirations and work ethic are showcased with touching clarity throughout The Center Will Not Hold. There is great context to The Year of Magical Thinking, a popular piece from Didion, and that of its follow-up, Blue Nights. Art is itself an intimate procedure, but to add the darker context, the heart-wrenching background and the longevity of that undying love Didion has for the family that have passed on before their time, is truly remarkable. It is remarkable not just the interpretations of those early years but how fundamental and life-changing they truly were. Didion is an inspiration to many not just for her talented abilities as a writer, but for her ingenuity and perseverance that cements her as one of the greats. The Center Will Not Hold does well to immortalise that.