June Carter Cash was a strong woman. She is my new hero. Would there have been Johnny Cash, the legend, without her? Thankfully we will never know.
Walk the Line isn't a perfect movie. There are a few scenes that just seem to be stuck in there as filler. Scenes like the one in which they blow off a tree branch with a makeshift bomb while on tour, when June and Johnny go to church before they are married, where Waylon and Johnny are hanging out at the apartment, and the scene where Johnny tries to cash a check at the bank. Each of these scenes seems out of place. What is perfect about this movie is Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix. The camera loves them both. If neither of them captured every mannerism of the real June and Johnny, they certainly made you believe in their performance and the romance. The love story between June and Johnny is also a fabulous one. Best friends finally sharing their love and spending their lives together. It took them around 12 years to do it, but they spent the next 35 together. That's true love.
One stylistic element that caught my eye in this film is how the camera frames June and Johnny or even Johnny by himself on stage. It frequently shoots them over their shoulders, so it appears as if you are right on stage with them. It captures them singing together and the gleam that appears in both of their eyes. It also captures that small curl in Johnny’s lips while he performs. You would never see this type of shot in archived footage of Johnny or June, so in some ways it sets the film apart from being just a docu-drama.
One thing I want to mention about the special features on the collector’s addition is that most of the footage used in them is from the movie. There is very little footage or photos of the real June and Johnny. I was rather disappointed by this, since after seeing the fictionalized version of their romance, I wanted to know and see more of the real June and Johnny. The interviews gave some information, but I wanted to see more of how the real June and Johnny performed together.
at March 4, 2006 10:48 PMWALK THE LINE
I quite enjoyed the film Walk The Line and it has helped me have a greater respect for the music of Johnny Cash.
I had always just thought of him as a country artist who spoke his lyrics. In fact, a man without a singing voice. How foolish I was.
I didn't realise that he was part of the early Rock scene at Sun Records surrounded by all that massive talent. By listening to his earlier works I can hear the true depth of his voice...spoken and singing.
I did notice at the begining of the movie when it was 1944 a young JR Cash (born 1932 which would have made him 11 or 12 years old) was listening to June Carter singing on the radio.
The radio announcer said June was 10 years old. Now since she was born in 1929 that would have made her 14 or 15 years old. So is that an error in the film or was June made to seem younger to her audience by her family or management (if they had any?). Any ideas?
One thing that I found out from the film and from reading more about Johnny is that his music really had substance, something that Elvis did not have. Johnny really owned his music. Hey I'm not slinging mud at Elvis because I really like his early Sun recordings but when a man sings a song he wrote or makes another man's song his own (like Johnny really did) then there is no comparison.
A terrific fim, a wonderful love story.
Posted by: Justin Allan at June 13, 2006 11:02 PM
you do have to appreciate an musician that can write songs and perform. another such musician that comes to mind is david bowie. i never realized that he wrote his own songs until i bought his music and read the credits. i was completely amazed, since it is so common now for musicians to perform other people's songs. i just assumed that everyone did it. thankfully, this is not the case.
Posted by: hope at June 14, 2006 9:36 AM