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Brooding Man in Black |
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Phoenix gives eerily accurate
portrayal of Cash
Film in Focus
By David Giarrizzo
|  Opening
shots lead you into the interior of Folsom Prison with
close ups of stomping shoes and quick edits of Joaquin
Phoenix hunched over a table saw flicking at it with
his fingers. The stomps grow louder as you realize they
are the prisoners waiting for Johnny Cash to bolt on
stage. Fade to white. We are magically transported to
Arkansas in 1949. A child of the Depression, J.R. Cash
was born February 26, 1932, in Kingsland, Arkansas.
Cash's parents took advantage of a New Deal farm program,
relocating their family to Dyess Colony in Northeast
Arkansas where they farmed cotton during the day and
sang gospel hymns on the porch at night.
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A account of country music marvel Johnny Cash's life, from
his early days to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis,
where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis
and Carl Perkins, Walk the Line follows the autobiography
of Johnny Cash, The Man in Black with amazing detail.
It is fascinating to me how actors can take on the traits
as well as the appearance of the actual persons they are portraying.
There were times in the film when I would look at Phoenix
and think, “Damn, he looks a lot like like Johnny. Phoenix
is soft spoken but fervent in his art. He seems to me to be
a man who feels more relaxed letting his art speak for him.
Likewise, I think Cash let his music speak for him. Maybe
that is why Cash was drawn to Phoenix. Having watched the
film now, I can't picture anyone doing The Man in Black jusice
the way Joaquin did.
Sources tell me that Johnny and June visited Joaquin early
in production before both of their deaths and socialized over
coffee. Johnny played a love song for the ladies, then pulled
Joaquin aside. “Hey, man, I really like your work in
Gladiator. Those bloody sword scenes were incredible. I really
liked it.” Phoenix later commented in an interview how
droll it was that Cash would play a soft love song one moment
and in the next breath croon over the blood and guts of Gladiator.
Shows to me that he was a man’s man.
With her portayel of June Carter Cash, Reese Witherspoon goes
from Legally Blonde to beaming brunette. As you watch this
girly girl it is tough to imagine her pulling off the role
of a twice divorced, road-tripping pioneer of American Music.
But she does, and persuasively at that. Not only was there
a physical transformation but Reese had to actually take on
the vocal traiming in order to perform the musical numbers
in the film.
Not only does she nail the vocal parts, but she also brings
passion to the screen as a young woman facing the mockery
of conservative fans while holding her own on the road . With
a bunch of young, wild, carousing up and coming musicians,
one of which is the brooding Johnny Cash, she plays den mother
to a wild pack of cards. When you think of the real June Carter
Cash words like multifaceted, modern woman, hard working mother
and wife comes to mind. Witherspoon does a fine job of capturing
all of these elements in her portrayal of June Carter.
T-Bone Burnett is once again put right into the place he
is needed most by scoring the music for a movie demanding
integrity and authenticity. Famous for his work in such smash
hits as The Big Lebowski, Oh Brother Where Art Thou, and Divine
Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Burnett coaches the actors
and musicians to create a believability that is fresh.
Walk the Line is a movie about Johnny Cash, one specific
idol who changed the face of music in his era. But you can’t
tell the whole story without all the characters involved.
Treated as secondary characters, Walk the Line gives you a
peek into the early career of then new acts like Jerry Lee
Lewis and Elvis Presley in a very simple yet honest way. Tyler
Hilton may be an unknown to moviegoers, and any female over
17, but he uses his musical talents to bring to life a very
young Elvis Presley in a way that is only one of its kind
and unforgettable. One of the most impressive pieces of dialogue
in this film comes from Jerry Lee Lewis. Waylon Payne has
the overwhelming task of being Jerry Lee but seems born to
play the role.
This film was a fitting tribute to the life of an amazing
underdog in a world of a growing music industry and the pressures
that come with it. Unfortunately, they leave off at the point
of his final marriage proposal to June Carter onstage, but
neglects to follow up on the many other achievements.
Grade: B+
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Vol.
I No. 7
Friday,
December 16, 2005
From all corners of the
county:
NewStory
Election Officials Defend
Security Measures
Clerk/Recorder will run for re-election to redefined post
Activists Confront Gallegos
Over Police Brutality Complaints
Bike-riding protestor charged with felony assault on police officer
Pulp Mill Pollution Resolution
Put Off
Activists decry use of private negotiations
in public process
County Gives Symbolic Backing
to Marriage Equality
Supervisor John Woolley to take over as Chair in 2006
Mayor Machi Retains Post
Councilmembers Meserve and Groves blasted
by public
Eureka Delays Waterfront
Choice Eco-hostel fans outnumbered Hampton supporters
four to one
Arcata Considers Homeless
Court Participation
Council looks to disentangle City from Mainstreet's failed B.I.D.
Board Approves Slate
of Headwaters Fund Grants
Local lobbying targets for reps in Sacramento and D.C. set
Court Land:
Quarter Mike
Flipped Over Bike Charges
Political theorists' attempt to transfer to Homeless Court denied
In the Know
What's the Buzz?:
On this Road, All that Glitters
Is Not Gold
The Prophecy of Has Beans and accidental joy at Kelly O’Brien’s
Film in Focus:
A Haunting Capote
Philip Seymor Hoffman finds triumph in stillness
Artistic License:
Understanding the Element
of a Band
Brilliant drudgery gives way to uber-dynamism
DV Indeed:
Have a Merry, Swashbuckling Christmas
South Pacific, Caribbean or a World
Tour with Peter Gabriel?
Film in Focus:
The Brooding Man in Black
Phoenix gives eerily accurate portrayal of Cash
Opinion
Editorials:
Democracy Unhinged
Fatally flawed ballot measure indicative of group out of touch with
their own values
Also...
Gotterdammerung for Bush
Thompson's Pro-Occupation
Shuffle
Getting Graphic:
Cheney Seen and Unseen
Comics skewer Veep
Guest Opinion:
Choking the Internet
How much longer will your favorite sites be online?
Letters to the Editor:
How Mainstream Can You Be?
Vagabond Journalist:
Rollin Richmond's Supreme
Hubris
Since when does HSU play a role in who serves as Mayor of Arcata?
Guest Opinion:
An Empire Without Virtue
The defenders of torture
Media Review:
The Low Power FM Fiasco
National Public Radio's scare campaign against community controlled
radio
Perspective on Globalization:
Uncharted Territory
Want to get out of Iraq?
Stop suburban sprawl!
Brick Burner:
Federal Food
Politics
Organic inconsistencies
Calendar: 12/16-12/22
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