Little Richard: I Am Everything, review

Little Richard: I Am Everything

UK release: 28 April 2023

Director: Lisa Cortés

Starring: John Waters, Billy Porter, Paul McCartney

Review by Abiba Coulibaly

Little Richard: I Am Everything sees veteran director and producer Lisa Cortés deliver a sensitive, nuanced, and soulful biopic about the life and times of musician and performer extraordinaire Little Richard. The film dissects the complex and highly influential legacy of the artist in pop culture this side of the mid-20th century while also honing in on the personal; exploring his relationship to, and demonstration of, Blackness and queerness during an era in which both were potentially fatal offences. It’s a rollercoaster of highs and lows, animated by Little Richard’s blinding sequined suits and signature shrieks, probing, as one interviewee asks, ‘what was he that he experienced such delight and such terror at the same time?’

To tell this eventful tale, Cortés makes excellent use of archival footage spanning numerous decades, showing off Little Richard’s effervescent, impish, and charismatic nature, and electrifying performances.

Often, this footage of conversations and interviews is used as a voiceover, allowing Little Richard to narrate the biopic and recount his life in his own words. This is a considerate and effective choice, lending the film a collaborative feel despite being produced following his passing in 2020.

It avoids many of the issues raised by  reenactment, while mitigating some of the pitfalls and biases of narratives about those excluded from, or not able to, contribute to how their story is told. These evocative clips are supplemented by interviews with lovers, scholars, and fans of Little Richard, an eclectic and adoring mix of characters, as we discover ‘the architect of Rock and Roll’ was revered by everyone from Billie Porter, to Mick Jagger.

Central to the film is this, until recently, largely obscured musical contribution; the instrumentation patterns, vocal flourishes, and frenzied, non-conformist stage presence Little Richard, crafted, perfected, and shared with the world, only for it to do be appropriated and capitalised upon by the likes of Elvis and Pat Boone. The portrayal by the conservative, racist establishment of his musical innovation as an alarming menace is almost comic - politicians and businessmen framed it as part of a Communist conspiracy to brainwash white teens with Black music - if it were not to have such serious emotional and financial repercussions for Little Richard himself.

Further uncovering lost histories and overlooked contributions, Little Richard: I Am Everything highlights the story of Little Richard’s early inspiration Sister Rosetta Tharpe. By blending gospel and electric guitar for the first time, she paved the way for Rhythm and Blues, and Rock and Roll. Cortés is attentive to demonstrating the genealogy of marginalised and profoundly talented musicians who laid the foundations for popular music and associated subcultures consumed so widely today, and at its heart her film is about finally paying them homage, recognising it is never too late to do so.

Cortés is successful in demonstrating that Little Richard was not just truly pioneering in his musical output, but also via the boundary-pushing gender presentation and affirmation of sexuality which accompanied it. Little Richard was queer, and openly so, even if he could not always reconcile this with his religious and moral beliefs. Throughout his teens, he performed in drag as his alter-ego, Princess Lavonne, and some of the film’s most arresting archival images come from this period, capturing 1940s gatherings of trans and drag African American communities, poised and resplendent in what would've been an atmosphere of vitriolic disapproval.

One of the film’s biggest strengths is its ability to delve into these loaded topics without sensationalising or cheapening them. Rather than treated as salacious gossip to be exposed, they are explored with sensitivity and respect for the unbridled authenticity and fearlessness of Little Richard and his peers. Despite the directness (and playfulness!) with which Little Richard addressed his sexuality, he is presented as a martyr of sorts, with one interviewee framing his attitude as ‘[w]e can get to this place but I may not get there with you’; while Little Richard opened doors providing a reference point and representation for gay Black men, he was not always at peace with, or complimentary of, his sexuality.

This was largely due to his deep-rooted religiosity. In a passage recounting childhood, we learn that early on in life, the singer wanted to be a minister, having grown up in the conservative Baptist stronghold of Macon, Georgia. Later, he experienced multiple divine visions, at times renouncing music to become a man of God, with the film exploring how this was at odds with both his calling and source of income as a musician.

A highly spiritual and cosmic element is recurrent throughout the film; often he’s described as, or makes reference to, meteors and comets, or the presence of angels, which only speaks to his out of this world nature. 

This new release is able to foreground the complexities, contradictions, and contributions that made Little Richard a dazzling light amongst the dark of an openly prejudiced society. Such significance is perhaps best conveyed by one interviewee who remarks ‘[w]hat’s revolutionary about [his] Black exuberance is this capacity to own the right to be in the world that gets Emmet Till murdered’, with Little Richard: I Am Everything providing a long overdue testimony to, and celebration of, the star’s inextinguishable Black exuberance.