Audio-Visuals

JOHNNY CASH: THE MAN, HIS WORLD, HIS MUSIC
Directed by Bob Elfstrom
(Sanctuary)
Originally broadcast on television in 1969, Johnny Cash: The Man, His World, His Music is a cinema verité look at the Man in Black. Definitely a star, but not yet an icon, Cash comes across as confident in his world and music, but without the self-awareness inherent in his later status. Visiting family and friends from his sharecropper youth in the 30s, Cash never flaunts his prosperity, remaining very much one of the folks. Besides the poor parts of Arkansas, the film also follows Cash to the site of the Wounded Knee massacre, a prison concert and to his own, rather modest home. Interspersed in all these behind-the-scenes shots are, of course, performances, from the standards ("Ring of Fire," "Orange Blossom Special," "Jackson," etc.) to lesser-known gems like "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" and "Cisco Clifton's Fillin' Station." There's also footage of Cash in the studio with Bob Dylan (then in his porcelain-voiced Nashville Skyline period) recording a loose "One Too Many Mornings" that alone will make this worth a look for the curious. But for me the best songs come from Cash sitting on his couch with his guitar, stumbling through a then-brand new tune, "You're All I Need," and delivering a quietly transcendent version of the traditional "Great Speckled Bird." He sings these tunes with the same polish as any of his recordings or concert renditions, but with an almost casual intensity; divorced of the trappings of any kind of formal presentation, the songs come alive simply as self-expression. There's no narration interrupting the proceedings, nothing between the camera and Cash, which means nothing between Cash and his audience. Which is the way Cash wanted it, I'm sure. Michael Toland [buy it]