The Coen brother goes solo to put together a documentary about the shamanic wild man of early rock’n’roll, who reinvented himself as a country and gospel act
The Coen brothers temporarily parted ways for solo projects on haunted charismatic wrongdoers: for Joel it was Macbeth, for Ethan it has turned about to be insurgent rock’n’roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis, the shuddering, quivering Pentecostal shaman of the devil’s music, who is still alive at the age of 86.
Coen has put together a thoroughly enjoyable documentary composed entirely of archive footage of Jerry Lee throughout the years and his interviews and performances, starting with his sensational beginnings in the 1950s, leading to his cancellation in 1957 on the grounds of getting married – of all the sweetly old-fashioned things – to his 13-year-old cousin Myra Gale Brown. With cheerful impenitence, Jerry Lee is shown correcting an interviewer: Myra was one day shy of her 13th birthday on their wedding day so she was actually twelve.
