Cadillac Records (2008)

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Cadillac Records was released on December 5, 2008, in the USA. The American drama film was produced by LightWave Entertainment. The movie storyline was written and directed by Darnell Martin. [1].

Plot

Muddy Waters in Cadillac Records [2]

Leonard Chess (Adrien Brody), a polish jew immigrant, starts a bar club in Chicago during post world war era. As he was looking for a singer, he finds several African American musicians who he believes that their music is exceptional. For that reason, he decides to create a record label for them. His first client is Muddy Waters, a trio of blues musicians. Muddy Waters consisted of McKinley Morganfield (Jeffrey Wright), Jimmy Rogers (Kevin Rogers), and Little Walter (Columbus Short). McKinley moves to Chicago since the South has become a place where the African Americans are beaten and lynched. In Chicago, he plays acoustic guitar and sings around the corner of the street. While Leonard tries to promote African American musicians, his club is burnt down by the prejudiced people towards African Americans. Still, he establishes a recording studio and financing the music production for African Americans. Then, his clients increase where Willie Dixon (Cedric the Entertainer), Howlin Wolf (Eamonn Walker), Chuck Berry (Mos Def), and Etta James (Beyonce Knowles) join his records[3]. Eventually, the records went into a blast although the clients compete with each other very fiercely. in the end, Chess has created IOU notes indicating the musicians should be paid more than the payment that has been contracted [4].

Controversy

The movie portrays prejudiced social manners and the white supremacy system in the country in that period. One of the scenes shows where Leonard's club is burnt down by some people who begrudge Leonard's relationship with African Americans. Moreover, throughout the movie, it is shown where white people rampage randomly towards African Americans for instance, where the white cops threaten the musicians of Chess Records.[5].

References