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.

White Lightnin' is a dark revelation, so filled with poignant and archetypal scenes, great writing and acting, and music that takes ones breath away. I don't know why Edward Hogg and Carrie Fisher haven't gotten many major awards for this gem of a film, including Oscars and Golden Globes. The violence makes this a film not suitable for young people or the "feint of heart." The main character reminded me of many great, damaged geniuses, a Hillbilly Antonin Artaud. The casting of the young and older version of the main character worked so well, and seamlessly, as we go on the spellbinding journey of his life. Carrie Fisher offered a brave and inspired performance. This film is a classic, that deserves to be included on many "great" lists: biography, music, dance, Americana, religion. It is "Songcatcher" in total eclipse.

Completely dissimilar from the original documentaries, but clearly inspired by them in terms of theme and incident. This most well captures the sense of desperate obsession, crazed addiction, (to 'Cilla, lighter fluid, his father's passing, or his own performance) and self-aggrandizing persecution. I found the depiction of Appalachia through b&w pans, bible radio and such terribly cliché, but at least in service to the film itself. Edward Hogg does a fantastic job of capturing not only Jesco's particular accent, but the rhythmic repetition and shifting emphasis in his speech patterns as he switches between extremes.Carrie Fisher is no less captivating, although her 'Cilla is less showy and not as directly inspired by Norma Jean. The particulars of their meeting, violent and romantic encounters, her singing voice, and facility for cooking up sloppy, slimy eggs are all explored well. And Fisher is inspiring as neither nag nor victim, but as interesting a character who is well defined with less apparent effort.But the direction this fiction takes is highly dramatized and loose, with Hasil Adkins' wild hoots accompanying Jesco's trip through self-destruction and vengeance. The cinematography becomes showy to an extent I found more intrusive than interesting, although at the same time Hogg's performance was increasingly good. It is not a case of difference from the angles taken in the documentaries, because this film makes its intent clear from the outset and maintains that difficult tone fairly well. But in the end, it felt like less a matter of character insight and more of sensationalized melodrama using exploitation technique.

There is no better summary line than the quote I used from the Guardian! The quote is on the poster of the movie too, along with "rollicking terrifying trip" and "white-trash psychobilly nightmare" both by Vanity Fair, and they fit perfectly. This movie is definitely a trip.A trip that's worth taking. A movie that you might think is more violent than it actually is. On screen violence is pretty rare, or better put not explicitly. Apart from that, the story of a man (white-trash) is almost linear, but nevertheless confusing and appalling at once.Bottom line: You'll either love this movie (because it's not only out there, but beyond) or you will hate it, because of it's craziness! I'm not going into story details, just be warned that this isn't for the faint hearted or overly religious. You could say it offends almost everyone it can!