Résumés(1)
All films are time capsules, documentaries especially so. But when a film has been unseen for four decades, the effect is magnified and often mesmerising. Between 1972-74, Les Blank spent time with musician Leon Russell, filming hours of live performances and interviews, both in his studio in Oklahoma and at a raucous live show. Due to creative differences and legal issues, Blank's debut feature barely saw the light of a projector. Now his son Harrod has been able to oversee a glorious restoration of the film, with the blessing of Russell. Blank captures the phenomenally talented musician/performer in all his pomp – the camera unusually close-up and intimate. But the music is only half the story, as Blank's eye also meanders beyond his subject to take in a series of free-wheeling interludes that paint a picture of the Oklahoma community and psychedelic times of a now vanished world. (London Film Festival)
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