White Lightnin'

This film felt at the same time genius, but at the same like a piece of crap. I think the acting and the mood in the film was one of the best since I've seen after Malick, Kubrick or Tarkovsky, but at the same time it just felt like a irritating overdose of film-cocaine.

It's always difficult to watch stupid people do stupid things in film. So was the case with this films main character.

I understand that the background with the father is somehow supposed to justify it all, but it was still hard for me.

We can see that the director is strong visually and a guy we will here from, but the script could have had a few more looks and a comment round from someone before they started shooting it.

"I happen to have friends in the "deep south" and their neighbors are moonshiners. Would wake in the morning hearing shotgun blasts, killing wild turkeys? "White Lightnin' puts all the myths of the modern day hillbilly to rest." Hogg is amazing and outrageous at the same time and the cast is strong but the story as cut is just too fragmented for myself to give a slightly better than average review. The film is also too short and I think it needed more narrative to tell the story-line better. Well shot and designed with decent euphoric imagery works like a bad acid trip. Haunting and stays with you equals success for these Filmmakers. Soundtrack is very creative and original, but my only major downer was the too fast, quick cuts editorial. I look forward to this Directors future work for sure! -CSPS-Media

White lightnin' is a work which exudes originality. That first and foremost must be said from this reviewer who is personally tired of the vapid humdrum which is usually churned out by Hollywood on a regular basis. Watching this film, I felt contented that there are still filmmakers out there who display boundary pushing ingenuity in there craft and who are not afraid to disturb the living hell out of you. Dominic Murphy has showed that he is one such director capable of telling you gut wrenching stories without descending into the usual path of incoherence in which so many of these types of films do. White Lightnin' is a film in which the plot never once lost focus of telling the story of the mountain dancing, gas huffing Jesco White. And while the violence, as my previous reviewer noted, is gratuitous and revolting, I never once felt it was incongruous or irrelevant with the story trying to be told. It is also of importance to note that viewing WL is like peering through a window into the destitute "white trash" culture of the poverty-stricken Appalachia. A way of life not assiduously examined through the medium of film. This in part presents the film with a particular boldness that was exhilarating to view.

Absolutely amazing film making and a great first effort from both the director and writers! I was sucked into this film from the get go and from its somewhat light hearted, troubling start it takes you on a wild ride of torment and madness. This is not a biopic, rather loosely based on the life of Jesco White (the "Dancing Outlaw", see documentaries) and combines some aspects of his life with a murder/revenge story. Pretty awesome and fitting soundtrack too. The music combined with the style of editing and overall theme gives this film that pop-culture, coolness type of feel, despite its sometimes graphic violence. See Hollywood, there is still plenty of good ideas out there, stop making all the crappy remakes and take some chances and Really worth checking this movie out, go do it now!

I'm not familiar with the true story of Jesco White. (But I will be soon.) On viewing the film, I was happy with the portrayal of the dark side of life in the backwoods of Appalachia. Not knowing the true story didn't ruin things for me, and I truly enjoyed the film.

But...

If you're going to do a lot of research about Southern Appalachia and try to make the film as true to life as possible, it's unforgivable that Jesse repeatedly refers to one person as "y'all." Y'all is ALWAYS plural, and is only used when talking to more than one person.

For instance:

When Jesse talks to the fat man about his tattoos, he calls the man "y'all." No matter how fat a guy is, he's still one person. Jesse should call him "you."

When Jesse is talking to his dead father in heaven, he actually calls his father "y'all!" Best I can recollect, the man has/had ONE father.

This issue probably does not bother non-natives much, but it made me disrespectful of this director's work. Too bad the chosen film location was in Croatia. There was nobody around to correct this glaring error.

Hope y'all enjoy this here review.