Film Snail

Little Richard: I Am Everything
Little Richard: I Am Everything

6.7

Little Richard: I Am Everything

R·2023·98m

Summary

The story of the Black queer origins of rock n' roll. It explodes the whitewashed canon of American pop music to reveal the innovator – the originator – Richard Penniman. Through a wealth of archive and performance that brings us into Richard's complicated inner world, the film unspools the icon's life story with all its switchbacks and contradictions.

Crew

Director

Lisa Cortés

Reviews

Geronimo1967

Geronimo1967

May 6, 2023

7

I admit to not really knowing so much about this enigmatic and flamboyant man, and I found this effort from Lisa Cortes to be quite an engaging and enlightening introduction. Using a mix of actuality and some soundbites, we are presented with an observational documentary of an outwardly gay man who can truly claim to have "invented" rock 'n roll - with over a dozen, instantly recognisable, toe-tappers to his name. As ever, we have the usual music industry shenanigans, his flirtations with sex, drugs, booze and ultimately, his rediscovery of religion as possibly his only lifeline. It's a well paced analysis but I could have been doing with more of his actual performances - especially as his songs tended to be so very short. It's still quite astonishing that so much footage does still exist and the use of the early material really does work well to illustrate not just how captivating he was as an entertainer, but also how effective he - and his music - was at offering some (limited) conduits for racial and sexual integration at a time when segregation was still rife and homosexuality still very much illegal. A fascinating insight not just into this man, but into the times in which he flourished; of the influential role his music played around the USA at the time, and well worth a watch.

Media

Status:

Released

Original Language:

English

Budget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Keywords

artists' life
rhythm and blues (r&b)
black singer
eccentric artist
gospel singer
portrait of an artist
r&b artist
artistic revolution
male pianist
egocentric artists
gay artist
life and career
homosexual
revolutionary singer
biopic
biographical documentary