TIFF 2013 Review: All Is By My Side (2013)

Cast: Hayley Atwell, Imogen Poots, Burn Gorman
Director: John Ridley
Country: UK | Ireland | USA
Genre: Biography | Drama | Music

Editor’s Notes: The following review is part of our coverage of the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. For more information on the festival visit http://tiff.net and follow TIFF on Twitter at @TIFF_NET.

While music documentaries of Jimi Hendrix’ career already exist, John Ridley’s All Is By My Side (2013) portrays Jimi prior to his nearly overnight bound into the world of legends; as such, the film depicts the man rather than the myth, and works to express his essential nature and personality instead of simply showing what he accomplished—as most documentaries do. Creating a narrative, and working with certain fictional elements, the biopic cannot be rightly considered a proper document on the man’s life. There are definitely liberties taken in regards to his meeting Linda Keith (Imogen Poots), his relationship with women—there were many other women than Linda Keith and Kathy Etchingham in his life—and his family dynamic. In order to provide an accessible and dramatic film, Ridley has eschewed all the chaotic activities of Hendrix’ pre-musically-established life. The film has a strong, but clearly tampered narrative framework. Preferably, Ridley would have depicted episodes of Hendrix’ life, despite the limitations this would have on the thematic continuity of the film. Because this is from Hollywood, however, thematic continuity is expected, so Ridley had to lose certain aspects in order to forge a coherent story. That said, since this is a biopic, and not a documentary, one might appreciate Ridley’s efforts to create a character out of Hendrix, even if Hendrix’ presence had to be somewhat augmented.

Outkast’s Andre Benjamin does an admirable job portraying Hendrix. Not only does he look highly similar, Benjamin attempts to speak in the same slow, relaxed, and poetic speech that Hendrix’ interviews demonstrate.

Outkast’s Andre Benjamin does an admirable job portraying Hendrix. Not only does he look highly similar, Benjamin attempts to speak in the same slow, relaxed, and poetic speech that Hendrix’ interviews demonstrate. While Benjamin’s voice isn’t quite as deep as Hendrix’, Benjamin does an  impressive job of capturing him, despite his unique and self-affirming nature. He is the type of person that one might claim could never be copied, so for Benjamin to adequately convey Hendrix’ unnatural and powerful energy is quite the accomplishment, especially for a musician turned actor. The simple, profound, and possibly inebriated moments that Hendrix became notable for are put on display. While Benjamin couldn’t possibly give off the vibe of Hendrix’ all-too-often tripping mind, he impressively presents a man with the philosophical sensibility to turn into that man.

In spite of this, the lack of presentation of the entheogenic, drug-spiritual culture of which Hendrix was fully involved in, even before his rise to fame, and a denial of the social and pharmacological moment of the mid-1960s US and London is a definite oversight on Ridley’s part. The film doesn’t feel like it’s depicting the 60s; it feels much too contemporary, and these essential aspects of Hendrix’ life—elements which would better contextualize the social position he lived in—are simply brushed under the rug in lieu of an accessible mainstream film about a man that this generation has all but forgotten. For this reason, perhaps it’s beneficial that Ridley has taken this route, as it might influence the current generation of teenagers to look back to the music of their fathers’ or even grandfathers’ day.

When the film does make an effort, using the formal system, to express the affective experience of an entheogen-cultivated and therefore spiritual state of mind, it does little to bestow the viewer with a subjective perspective of this.

When the film does make an effort, using the formal system, to express the affective experience of an entheogen-cultivated and therefore spiritual state of mind, it does little to bestow the viewer with a subjective perspective of this. During moments of disorienting cuts, unseen and repetitive dialogue, and time slipping from linearity, one notices the stylistic choice but is not especially moved by it. With the ambition of sharing the experience with the audience through cinema, the film does a frankly poor job of moving beyond a mere stylistic choice.

When it comes to the music, something strange is going on. First of all, Hendrix’ estate denied to give the producers the rights to Hendrix’ music. For this reason, none of his songs are actually in the film, except for one brief moment where a keen ear will notice that Jimi is about to start playing the track Hey Joe for the Are You Experienced? album. It’s only the first note, but a Hendrix fan will know. Besides this, blues tracks that Hendrix often covered are used for the most part. With Hendrix playing Killing Floor Blues and Hear My Train a Coming, as well as several blues tracks from other artists he admired, the young Jimi Hendrix impresses any that is to see him. While Benjamin does reasonable job moving his hands along the frets as Jimi would, his hands do not compare. Moreover, the music used, for the most part, is not actually Jimi Hendrix. This is probably another condition of the estate. Much of the playing, therefore, is likely a recording of a cover artist playing like Hendrix.

In the end, what matters to Ridley is expressing the mystique behind Jimi Hendrix’ alluring presence. A unique man that impressed any who came to see him, Hendrix was as mysterious and profound as he was a talented musician. Some fans even refer to him as a prophet. It’s refreshing to see Ridley give attention to this, because, while others have attempted to evoke Hendrix’ nature, they have not transformed his nature into a film character. For these reasons, the film ought to be seen by Hendrix’ fans, and is an appreciable means to understand the man himself; however, All Is By My Side has little for the non-Hendrix fan.

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Kamran Ahmed

Staff Film Critic. Visit my personal blog at Aesthetics of The Mind

Kamran's areas of interest include formalism, realism & reality, affect, and notions of the aesthetic. With experiences as a TA, an event panelist, a presenter at conferences from UofT to Harvard, and a writer of a self-authored film blog, Kamran would like to share with others his profound interest in the profilmic in the hopes of inspiring, in them, a similar love for film.

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