Little Richard: I Am Everything

2023

1h 38m

IMDb RATING

6.5/10

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Documentary

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The story of the black, gay 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.

Directors

Lisa Cortés

Writers

Stars

Little Richard

John Waters

Mick Jagger

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Videos2

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Watch Little Richard: I Am Everything - Official UK Trailer
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Photos13

Top cast

Little Richard

Self (archive footage)

Self

Self

Self

Self

Self (archive footage)

Self

Self

Self

Self

Self (archive footage)

Elvis Presley

Self (archive footage)

Pat Boone

Self (archive footage)

John Lennon

Self (archive voice)

Keith Winslow

Self

Directors

Lisa Cortés

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Featured review

7/10

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.

Geronimo196706 May, 2023