Michael Farris
Mus 008 - Sec 28
Professor Wong
12/1/15
Jimi
“I want my music to go into the soul of a person,” are the words of a somewhat insecure Jimi Hendrix just a few short years before he made his fame. This short and simple quote shows that Jimi was a humble man that wanted to be known for his musical talent and nothing else. Jimi: All is By My Side is a film that depicts Mr. Hendrix before he reached star status across the globe. This film not only shows a wide range of aspects in Jimi’s life, but other cultural aspects as well including clothing, style, gender roles, race, etc. There is even a controversy over the songs that are played in the film that caused some disappointment with fans of Hendrix. The ending of the film left me disappointed myself because it gets right to the point where he starts to become famous, and that is where I really wanted to learn about his experiences while he peaked.
Jimi Hendrix started his music career as a backup guitarist in New York where he was playing gigs just to have fun and play music. He was discovered at Cheetah Club by a British woman by the name of Imogen Poots. She really listened to Jimi’s skills and paid attention to how he played. Intrigued, she recruits him and takes him to London where his career would sky rocket in a matter of years. This leads to how women are portrayed within the film. Poots and Hendrix have a strong connection throughout the film, and this connection is challenged when Jimi starts making a name for himself. Imogen becomes jealous of the attention that Jimi is receiving from random women and groupies. Due to this jealousy, her and Jimi hit a rough patch and are not involved with one another for quite some time. Jimi continues his life and begins to see other women. As the film goes on and Jimi starts gets his music career rolling, he has an opportunity to perform in America again and he wants Imogen to come with him, realizing that she is the whole reason he is where is now. Imogen tells Jimi she will not travel with him and we are left wondering what happened between the two because the movie ends shortly after this dispute without a resolution.
Due to Hendrix’s estate not giving the director, John Ridley, permission to use Jimi’s songs in the movie. This gave Ridley the opportunity to portray a small portion of Jimi’s humble beginnings. Another interesting aspect of the movie Ridley decided to include was how he introduced each character. He would put the character’s name on the screen while each respective player entered the film. I think he does this in order to give the audience a clear cut idea of each significant figure in Jimi’s life and the path each of them take with Jimi as he rises to fame. As his fame rose, his style took a slight change of direction. Jimi always had a unique sense of style, but as his career progresses, the colors of his clothes become more vibrant, giving him an unmatched style that only he can claim his own. His afro was always a part of his look and that hardly changes throughout the film. Although later in life he switches up how he styles but obviously that part of his life was not shown in the movie. His unique and unmistakable style matched his playing style almost too perfectly. The way he handled his guitar appeared as though it was an extension of his body. He turned a right-handed guitar upside down in order to play left-handed. Anther extremely unique technique Jimi uses is flipping the guitar around to his back and somehow making musical magic without seeing the guitar or his hands. He even manages to play with his teeth, which became one of his most iconic performance styles and it adds to his already unique and distinctive way of performing.
The movie certainly does not follow the typical characteristics of a biopic. That is what everyone would expect from a movie starring Jimi Hendrix. As Ian Ingles says in his article “Popular music history on screen: the pop/rock biopic,” “At best, the popular music biopic can only provide a supercial account of a performer’s career—one which simply scratches the surface of his or her life” (91). Although it left many displeased, Christie Lemire points out in her review that a classic biopic would “…frustrate many folks, but it’s also quite illuminating in its own way.” She goes on to say that since Jimi’s life is so publicized that audiences do not need to see a “montage of a drug-addled Hendrix being mobbed by fans as his hits make their way up the charts.” Fascinated by the film, she thinks the approach taken by Ridley is a smart one because it shows us a side of Jimi that not everyone knows. Manohla Dargis has a similar outlook on how the movie is made. In his review, “The Year When the Guitar Licks Ignited,” he praises Ridley for the somewhat unorthodox approach to the film. Dargis points out that film includes some well documented points in Jimi’s life, but does not have a huge focus on them. He gives the example of Eric Clapton gives the stage to Hendrix, but “avoids most of the old behind-the-music clichés.” Instead, Ridley focuses on the things people do not think about when they think of Jimi. In his article he lists gestures, looks, family photos, old footage and recordings as the focus of the visuals we see.