Event

White Lightnin'

(Dominic Murphy, USA, 2008, 90 min)

Deep in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia, where every man owns a gun and a moonshine still, in a battered trailer, abides living legend Jesco White, 'the dancing outlaw'.

Growing up, Jesco (Edward Hogg) found himself shuffling between reform schools and work camps until his father, a famous mountain dancer, taught him how to tap. After his father's murder, Jesco begins to dance to control his wicked ways and takes his show on the road, where he meets Cilla (Carrie Fisher), the love of his life. As Jesco is forced to face his past, we bear witness to the dual powers of revenge and redemption, and the lengths to which he will go to have both.

White Lightnin' is a phantasmagoric tumble into the dark corners of artistic genius, addiction, and insanity. Based on the life of a fabled mountain dancer, director Dominic Murphy's film creates a cleverly stylized portrait that is nothing short of sensational.