This is a most exciting, gripping and fabulous film. Bette Midler's electrifying performance was worthy of best actress. The Janis Joplin type performance is stunning - her heart and soul is in her voice which pulsates and vibrates into your very being and sends shock waves of electricity tingling coolly down the back of your spine touching your very soul. This is a gut-wrenching experience that teaches nothing but makes you experience everything.<br /><br />I love this film, the music and the voice and performance of Bette Midler. What a thrill it is to see an artist like Bette Midler perform to such an extreme and lofty level. What a dazzling radiant star that burned so brightly for so short a time and then was so suddenly and prematurely snuffed out. But when an artist gives so much of herself in every song she sings, it is no wonder that her life was slowly drained and eventually terminated by the fans who loved her.<br /><br />I was working with The Canadian Film Institute in 1980, one year after the release of this film, and we put on a festival in Ottawa at the National Film Archives Theatre in July. We started out with "The Rose" at 8pm and then concluded with Crawley Films Academy Award winning Documentary film "Janis" at 11pm. It was just like a live Rock Concert. The crowd was in a frenzy. The only thing missing was Jimi Hendrix! Love this one. Real entertainment and excitement!<br /><br />I should note that the director, Mark Rydell, does an overview commentary on the DVD version of this film and it is like taking a university level cinematic studies course. He makes interesting and relevant comments on every scene in the film and it is well worth listening to. Highly informative and fascinating!