Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis - A Life for Rock'n'Roll

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Movie
German title Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis - A Life for Rock'n'Roll
Original title Great Balls of Fire!
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1989
length 102 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Jim McBride
script Jack Baran ,
Jim McBride
production Adam Fields ,
Michael Grais ,
Mark Victor
music Jerry Lee Lewis
camera Affonso Beato
cut Lisa Day ,
Pembroke J. Herring ,
Bert Lovitt
occupation

Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis - A Life for Rock'n'Roll (Original title: Great Balls of Fire! ) Is an American biopic from 1989 . The Director led Jim McBride , the writer wrote Jack Baran and Jim McBride based on a book by Myra Lewis and Murray Silver Jr. The film stars Dennis Quaid and Winona Ryder .

action

Jerry Lee Lewis grew up in Louisiana in the 1940s , where he stole secretly from black bars to listen to their music. As a young man, he moved in with his religious cousin to pursue a career in the big city. He had his first hit with Crazy Arms . He is a well-known musician in the second half of the 1950s. His song Great Balls of Fire reached higher and higher places on the chart lists. When he a check for 40,000 dollars gets, he thinks at first glance, it would be $ 4,000 - which already seems to him to be a very large sum of money. The female fans scream and cheer.

Lewis spends more and more time with his cousin Myra Gale Lewis, who is only 13 years old. When he picks them up after school, the students are dancing in the street.

Lewis secretly marries Myra. When her father, a member of the music group, learns of the wedding, he wants to shoot Lewis. The manager of the group reassures him and points out the high income to be expected.

The group comes to Great Britain, Myra is flying despite the manager's concerns. The wedding is supposed to be kept secret, but one of the reporters finds out Myra's role at the airport. The lie that she is 15 years old doesn't help and will soon be exposed. The musician's public image suffers and he is booed at the first concert. His expulsion from the UK is under discussion. Lewis has to cancel the tour.

In the United States, the same students who danced in the street in an earlier scene have their backs on him. The next song by Lewis disappears from the hit list. The singer performs in front of a smaller audience, he drinks a lot of alcohol .

Lewis spends the evening after the concert with a woman; at the same time he calls Myra and accuses her of being unfaithful. He beats her on return. When Lewis calms down, he learns that Myra is pregnant. At the end of the film, the picture with their son is shown.

Lewis' cousin, Jimmy Swaggart , is a preacher. In a sermon he calls for a decision to be made between a quick buck and a stony path for God . Myra is moved. Lewis says he's a musician who could play in hell and leaves church. Myra follows him.

Reviews

Roger Ebert criticized in the Chicago Sun-Times of June 30, 1989 that the film did not show a real picture of the musician. He quoted the film writers who “chose the legends”. The scene in which people who used to dance on the streets condemn Jerry Lee Lewis seems “forced” and “wrong”. Ebert praised the performance of Dennis Quaid.

The lexicon of international films mentioned the "rapid cut sequence" and wrote that the film did not strive for the "historical truth". The portrayal of Dennis Quaid was praised as "demonic-brilliant".

backgrounds

  • The shooting took place in Arkansas and Memphis ( Tennessee instead). The film grossed $ 13.741 million in US cinemas .
  • The soundtrack for the film was released on June 8, 1989. It includes all titles appearing in the film and a duet by Dennis Quaid and Jerry Lee Lewis.
  • Winona Ryder won the Young Artist Award in 1990 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Film review by Roger Ebert
  2. ↑ Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis - A Life for Rock'n'Roll. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used