It would be an understatement to say that we’re very much looking forward to this.
Taking on the role of probably the greatest guitarist of all time was a pretty big ask for Andre Benjamin, better known to you and me as Outkast’s Andre 3000, but we certainly like what we see in the first trailer for All is by My Side, which is due for release in Irish cinemas next month.
Directed by John Ridley and also starring Hayley Atwell and Imogen Poots, the movie covers a short time in Hendrix’s life before he made it big, specifically the time he spent in London before the release of the 1967 album Are You Experienced, which included classics such as Purple Haze, Hey Joe, Fire and The Wind Cries Mary.
The film has attracted controversy in some quarters for over dramatising events in Hendrix’s life at the time. Australian Kathy Etchingham, who dated Hendrix and who is portrayed by Hayley Atwell in the film, has hit out at the depiction of her relationship with the guitarist as an abusive one and was recently quoted as saying that scenes of domestic violence in the film were ‘completely made up’.
Those scenes don’t feature in the trailer above, but it’s worth having a look to see what is in store in a movie that should appeal hugely to fans of a man whose music still resonates almost 45 years after his death.
All Is by My Side goes on release in Irish cinemas on 8 August 2014
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