Charles Burnett's "Warming by the Devil's Fire" is as naive and childish as it could get, yet it still has its charm. It's another production in the series of blues documentaries called "Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues".
The movie tells a story mixed with archival performances somehow related to the storyline. Young boy visits his family in the Mississippi delta during 1950s and is kidnapped by his uncle who shows him around and tells about the blues. Acting is just terrible and the story rather weak but it doesn't matter that much. It shows one's love for the blues. Archival performances are great in the whole series and this part is no exception: from Bessie and Mamie Smith, through Sister Rosetta Tharpe to Big Bill Broonzy, Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker.
Director said he tried to show "the tensions between the heavenly strains of gospel and the devilish moans of the blues". Uhm, whatever... Even if the movie didn't capture it that well, there's something out of this world in music played in the delta during 20s and 30s and it's worth further research ;)
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