White Lightnin' is a tale about a mountain dancer's madness

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But then you wouldn’t expect a film like White Lightnin’ to be the feature debut from British adman Dominic Murphy. It’s some surprise, and not a bad one either.

Murphy bases his tale on the life and times of Jesco White, a famous exponent of the now dying art of mountain dancing, and a prodigious drinker. Jesco, well played by Edward Hogg, spent time in a reform school and married a girl called Norma (Carrie Fisher) whom he had originally intended to rob. According to her, he exhibited at least three different personalities: he could be caring and sensitive, wildly abusive and violent, or an Appalachian version of Elvis Presley. Sensibly, she left him.

According to this version of his story, he was obsessed with the murder of his father, waylaid by a couple of drunks one night, and eventually extracted an equally violent revenge. God seems to be the chief commentator, intimating that most human beings have an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other.

Murphy makes copious use of momentary blank screens, and the film is shot in bleached-out colour by Tim Maurice-Jones with a score from Nick Zinner. The film has a demented logic that parallels the personality of its chief character.

The result keeps you watching if only to find out what comes next. Apparently Jesco is still alive and lives with his dog Patches. "You talk about a warped mind," he now says, "I got one."

White Lightnin'
Cert: 18