A Poem Is a Naked Person

Filmmaker Les Blank spends 1972 to 1974 filming musician Leon Russell at his recording studio on Grand Lake in Oklahoma and as he plays his concerts. It has a younger Willie Nelson among others. It's a moody piece. I don't get much of a sense of anybody especially Leon Russell except when the snake has its meal. It's more a sense of place that seems to be on display. Some of the performances are fun and it's compelling music. There is an echo in an interview and I'm not sure if it's deliberate. The whole movie is a bit messy. I don't know anything about Leon Russell before this and after this, I'm not sure that I know him that well. That is really the start and the end of this. I don't care much about the drugged out philosophical ramblings of the band, the fans, and the hanger-on. The other people seem to be good ole boys and I don't care much about them either. Les is throwing everything at this including the kitchen sink or in this case, a building implosion. A guy is suddenly eating glass to show off and I don't know who he is. That's this movie.