Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison (2008)

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Don't Believe the Hype

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

I'd expected a black-and-white concert film here (though admittedly this doc dates to 2008), but found more than that.This film takes us back to the Sixties when Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, and their band performed in the sprawling dining hall of Folsom Prison. It was Johnny's attempt at a comeback and he could not have had a more appreciative crowd in this place where, as a former inmate put it, "everything is limited and restricted...You're not a human being decent enough to be talked to in a decent manner." Cash wasn't an ex-con himself but he was empathic to the prisoner's plight and a surprising number of his songs tried to provide the jailed man's perspective. (He draws applause when singing the controversial line "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die...") The film takes an intriguing detour into the checkered life of Glen Sherley, a career criminal who aspired to songwriting. Cash sang one of his songs at the Folsom concert and got Sherley an early release -- only to get scared by some of the violent things the ex-con started saying. (Cash sent Sherley packing and Sherley killed himself years later.) The movie says some thoughtful things about imprisonment, rehabilitation, and the futility of trying to save someone who doesn't want to be saved. And the music is superb -- particularly when Cash and June Carter perform together. If it has one flaw, it's that there's too much talk here and not enough of Cash's unique artistry.Still,this film is well worth seeing and remembering.

Despite the public image fed by his songs, and despite offenses that led him in jail for one night stands Johnny cash was never convicted and never did time in prison. He did know understand however very well the conditions of imprisonment of detainees and he understood their feelings. Having seen a 1951 film dedicated to the Folsom Prison, one of his first songs was 'Folsom Prison Blues', but it was only more than one decade later - in 1958 - that he did perform in the prison in a recorded concert that gives the title of this film.Much of the film includes biographical information about Cash, and about the penitentiary system in America that Cash made great efforts to humanize and reform. Cash believed that any human being can be redeemed, even the worst criminals who committed horrific crimes, and he turned his conviction in deeds, not only by giving concerts in jails, but also by becoming personally involved in activities to reform the system, and befriending and personally helping - with mixed success - a number of prisoners. There are more interviews with the people who were helped by Johnny Cash or were related to the prison system than musical information, and some music fans who were expecting a pure musical film may get disappointed. I actually think that this is the interesting part of the film, and there is enough good music left as well I especially liked the two animated clips on original music. The only missing stuff in my opinion is the lack of filmed sequences from the concert itself, but maybe there is none left. There is enough biographic information though to compensate this.

This is a documentary that uses Johnny Cash's 1968 Folsom Prison performance as the pivot point for telling his life story, with interesting subplots about two of the inmates present at the concert, notably country music artist Glen Sherley who was essentially discovered by Cash as part of the concert event. There was no actual video of the concert, so we get interviews with Cash's and Sherley's kids, as well as with back-up musicians, etc., with still photographs, archival footage, and some interesting animation sequences.I caught an afternoon showing at the Newport Beach Film Festival, and it is hard to imagine that this film will generate a lot of excitement in any theatrical release. It will work well on television, and if you get a chance to see it you will be rewarded with a balanced and engaging account of a complex and interesting man.

I'm not a raging Johnny Cash fan, but I like his stuff, and I particularly like his Live @ Folsom album. I was really looking forward to a "behind the scenes" look into the making of this album, and going into it I assumed there would be a bunch of archival video from the actual event.Instead, the film makers delivered a biography of Cash with particular emphasis on his advocacy for prison reform, and how this concert played into that theme of his life. Unfortunately, even this theme wasn't very focused, and it wasn't apparent what point they were trying to get across until well into the film.It wasn't *bad,* per se, it just wasn't as good as i'd hoped. Perhaps a case of misplaced expectations.Even more unfortunate is that there were people in the audience who've never heard the album before, and though the album itself is superb, this film doesn't leave that impression with someone not familiar with Cash's work. I think die-hard Cash fans will appreciate this most, while it doesn't really have a whole lot to offer for the common viewer.