You'll never see me wear a suit of white So much has been said about Cash's life story that it won't happen again. The Man in Black was (and still is) a true American hero for all his sins. It is much more interesting to talk about the creative path of Johnny. The amount of pain and bitterness he put into his songs made the world look at country differently. Since the late fifties, he participated in all the more or less major movements within the genre, eventually gaining in the music environment such weight as have Bob Marley in reggae or Iggy Pop in punk. Father.
However, becoming a legend of his country, he was not particularly interested in critics and musical geeks outside of it. That all changed in the mid-nineties when a six-part saga called American began. Having finally left for the alt-country, Cash decided to share with the world all the wisdom and warmth that remained in his soul for the seventh decade. The first 4 LPs were released during the life of the singer, the last 2 after his death (in many ways, they are not so good), and they made Johnny an artist for the masses. Do not be all these delightful covers that stirred the attention of the public in the nineties-zero, not become part of the mass culture. The Amazing Path of a Creator Who Released His Best Album Months Before His Death
In American Rebel, a huge number of people sit in front of the camera and remember their meetings with Cash, as well as talk about how the singer influenced them. Gradually, the whole story of the artist’s life is formed, from a difficult relationship with his father to the last days without June. All persons invited for the film can be divided into 4 types: relatives (daughter and son), heroes of the past (Chris Christofferson, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard), heroes of the present (Kid Rock, Eric Church) and producers (Clive Davis, Rick Rubin). The time between the interviewees is divided approximately equally, and as a voiceover, they alternate. Johnny himself gradually ages on the screen through the prism of the chronicles, again passing through all life’s troubles as a lyrical hero. No makeup is necessary – these eyes and wrinkles on the face speak for themselves.
The film was released in 2015, but it feels like 2005. Very reeks of TV format, Wikipedia, if this term can be attributed to documentary. It has little artistic, almost no interesting finds and very conservative editing. Smoothness in the narrative only appears in the nineties, with the tale of the formation of "American Records." It turns out that this is a feature of directors Murray and Tappis (far from being new to the documentary genre). The film also looks older because of pain in the eyes of some people. Johnny had been dead for 12 years, but the memories of him made everyone cry again. Some overcome sadness in a famous way - they took out a guitar and played a song by Cash. These miniature performances became the highlight of the soundtrack.
Despite the fact that the directors did not dare to dig too deep, and their style in the 2010s reeks of crust, the film simply could not be bad with such a selection of respondents. There is no better approach to forming the image of Cash. Many of the facts were revelations. For example, it was only at the request of Cash that Bob Dylan first appeared on television. Or that in his evening show, Johnny was one of the first to introduce audiences to all musical genres. And that in recent years he lived with constant pain, because he could not take painkillers - he was afraid to sit down, as in the sixties.
The honesty of the respondents causes a storm of emotions. But the most pervasive monologue is Merle Haggard’s account of Cash’s concert at San Quentin Prison, in which Merle himself was serving time. The case where one person’s music changed the lives of another...and probably several people at once. The film answers the question of what kind of lump Cash was, and this is his main merit.