Lightning in a Bottle (2004)

Director:

Antoine Fuqua

Release Date:

5 August 2004 (Germany)

Genre:

Documentary | Music

Tagline:

A one night history of the blues

Plot:

Antoine Fuqua's documentary on the blues, shot at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

Plot Keywords:

New York City | Blues Music | Historical Event | Manhattan New York City | Radio City Music Hall Manhattan New York City

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Aerosmith	...	Themselves
Gregg Allman	...	Himself
James Blood Ulmer	...	Himself
Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown	...	Himself
Ruth Brown	...	Herself
Solomon Burke	...	Himself
Natalie Cole	...	Herself
Shemekia Copeland	...	Herself
Bill Cosby	...	Himself
Robert Cray	...	Himself
Chuck D.	...	Himself
Dr. John	...	Himself
Honeyboy Edwards	...	Himself
John Fogerty	...	Himself
Macy Gray	...	Herself
Buddy Guy	...	Himself
John Hammond	...	Himself
Levon Helm	...	Himself
India.Arie	...	Herself
David Johansen	...	Himself
Larry Johnson	...	Himself
Angélique Kidjo	...	Herself
B.B. King	...	Himself
Chris Thomas King	...	Himself
Alison Krauss	...	Herself
Lazy Lester	...	Himself
Keb' Mo'	...	Himself
Odetta	...	Herself
Bonnie Raitt	...	Herself
Vernon Reid	...	Himself
Mavis Staples	...	Herself
Hubert Sumlin	...	Himself
Jimmie Vaughan	...	Himself
Kim Wilson	...	Himself
Martin Scorsese	...	Himself (uncredited)

Directed by
Antoine Fuqua

Produced by
Jody Allen	....	executive producer (as Jody Patton)
Paul G. Allen	....	executive producer
Margaret Bodde	....	producer
Alex Gibney	....	producer
Jack Gulick	....	producer
Richard Hutton	....	co-producer
Susan Motamed	....	co-producer
Martin Scorsese	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Steve Jordan

Cinematography by
Greg Andracke
Lisa Rinzler

Film Editing by
Bob Eisenhardt
Keith Salmon
Philip Shane		(co-editor)

Production Design by
Tom McPhillips

Production Management
Pamela Hirsch	....	production manager
Shoshana Horowitz	....	production manager
Kendall McCarthy	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Eve Adair	....	first assistant director
John Lowe	....	first assistant director

Sound Department
Felix Andrew	....	sound recordist
Martin Czembor	....	sound re-recording mixer
Eliza Paley	....	supervising sound editor
Roger Phenix	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Tom Kenny	....	lighting designer
Jeff Muhlstock	....	Steadicam operator
Kevin Murphy	....	Steadicam focus puller

Editorial Department
Roger Doran	....	colorist
Pat Kelleher	....	on-line editor
Alexis Spraic	....	assistant editor
Sean Titone	....	assistant editor
Calvin Wimmer	....	first assistant editor

Other crew
Rob Barnett	....	project consultant
John Charles	....	software engineer: Sony DAC
Joshua Dragge	....	production assistant
B.J. Miller	....	business affairs director
Kat Samick	....	assistant: Mr. Fuqua (as Kathlene Samick)
Sean Titone	....	production office assistant

Thanks
Jeff Scheftel	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Vulcan Productions
• Jigsaw Productions

Distributors

• 1More Film (2005) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Filmwelt (2004) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Mongrel Media (2004) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Nikkatsu (2005) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Classics (2004) (USA) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Arthaus Filmverleih (2012) (Germany) (DVD)
• CCV (2004) (Sweden) (all media)
• Dawoori Entertainment (2004) (Korea) (video)
• Filmes Lusomundo (2004) (Portugal) (all media)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language

Runtime:

103 min | Argentina:108 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente) | Canada:110 min (Ontario)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Australia:PG | Argentina:Atp | UK:PG | Canada:PG (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Radio City Music Hall - 1260 6th Avenue, Rockefeller Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Vulcan Productions

Quotes:

B.B. King:[referring to a crowd that booed him once after his name was announced] At first, they didn't care nothin' about the blues. They didn't know nothin' about me. The reason they booed 'cause it was blues. When they said "blues", hey, it's like being black twice.

enjoyable documentary

The thing that separates the Blues from many other types of music is that it is an art born of pain and suffering, of a collective experience that includes slavery, Jim Crow laws, segregation, discrimination and poverty. With all that to face, who wouldn't be singing the blues? Yet, as with any great art form, the suffering is only a part of the story. For the Blues derives its true energy and strength from the optimism and hope it exudes, that hope for a better future that resides in the human spirit even in the darkest of times. Through the years, the Blues has given voice to the powerless and helped change the world in ways that one never could have imagined a hundred years ago. That is its true legacy.

All of this has been effectively captured in "Lightning in a Bottle," a documentary about a concert held at Radio City Music Hall to commemorate one hundred years of the Blues. The concert organizers gathered some of the greatest legends still alive today - far too numerous to mention - to play and sing together and to pay tribute to the musical trailblazers who went ahead of them (artists like Leadbelly, Billie Holliday etc.). The concert itself has an almost "survey course" feel to it, charting the development and growth of the Blues from its roots in Africa to its flowering as the premiere art form and avenue of expression for millions of oppressed blacks in 20th Century America. The performances are accompanied by behind-the-scenes interviews with some of the artists present at the event as well as by old audio and film clips of many of the seminal performers from the past doing their thing in the recording studio or on stage. Thus, we are given a nicely balanced view of the Blues both past and present.

The musical performances are all first rate, although, in the interest of time, the sets are much shorter than any real Blues fan would probably like them to be. Still, it's great to hear the old standards being performed by world-renowned artists at the peak of their form. If you're a devotee, check out "Lightning in a Bottle." And if you're not a blues fan, check the film out anyway. You might just learn something and have a terrific time listening to all that great music at one and the same time.