Offering a simplistic overview
of major events in the life of legendary blues/folk singer Huddie William
Ledbetter, better known as “Lead Belly’ or “Leadbelly” because of his muscular
build, the slick biopic Leadbelly
dramatizes the cause-and-effect relationship between Ledbetter’s difficult life
and the soulful quality that infused his performances. Born in 1888 Louisiana,
Ledbetter grew up in the racially divided South, eventually spending many years
on chain gangs and in state prisons because his temper caused trouble and his
race ensured that mercy from government officials was in short supply.
Completely eschewing Ledbetter’s post-prison life, during which he had a
complicated relationship with success, the movie kicks off with a long sequence
illustrating why Ledbetter left home. After achieving minor local fame as a
musician, Ledbetter (Roger E. Mosley) gets into a brawl with a neighbor who
lodges a police complaint, so Ledbetter’s long-suffering father, Wes (Paul
Benjamin), tells his son to flee in order to avoid imprisonment. Absconding to
a red-light district, Ledbetter becomes a kept man for a madam named Miss Eula
(Madge Sinclair), who gives him his nickname while also teaching him musical
lessons about the blues. Next, Ledbetter hits the road with fellow musician
Blind Lemon Jefferson (Art Evans), but another fight lands Ledbetter in prison.
He escapes and lives briefly under an alias, but then he’s recaptured and sent
to prison at Angola, where he serves a long term for a murder charge stemming
from the death of a man whom Ledbetter claims he killed in self-defense. The
movie then fudges history by combining major events that actually occurred
during two separate stints at two separate jails—Ledbetter charms a governor
into issuing a pardon, and Ledbetter’s music is discovered by iconic folk-song
archivist John Lomax (James Brodhead).
As directed by
photographer-turned-filmmaker Gordon Parks, Leadbelly
is a notch more visually sophisticated than the average made-for-TV biopic of
the same vintage, but in every other regard it’s quite ordinary. The script by
Ernest Kinoy lacks depth, and only a handful of scenes involving supporting
characters display real emotional power. In particular, a vignette of aging Wes
visiting Angola and trying to buy Ledbetter’s freedom is a heartbreaker that
says volumes about the black experience in the Jim Crow South.
Having the
vigorous Mosley play the title character at various ages is a problem, since
slapping some gray into Mosley’s hair can’t mask Mosley’s youth, and the movie
pushes Mosley’s talents way past their limits. He’s an appealing an expressive
actor, and he does a fantastic job belting out Leadbetter’s tunes, but his
range is far too limited for a role of this scope. In his defense, history
seems to indicate that the real Ledbetter was often belligerent and
self-destructive, so the choice to play the character as an underdog who
overreacts to situations that challenge his manly identity is somewhat understandable.
For all of its merits, however, Leadbelly
leaves too much of the real Leadbetter story untold.
Leadbelly:
FUNKY
