Review: 'Devil at the Crossroads: A Robert Johnson Story'

As part of the Remastered series, "Devil at the Crossroads" is Netflix creating a documentary about one of the most enigmatic men in all of music history—Robert Johnson.

For those of you who are unaware of who Robert Johnson was—he was the King of the Delta Blues. His guitar playing skills, after being an audience member for the legendary Charley Patton, made him more and more well known throughout Memphis, Mississippi, and other places where the blues were prominent in the early 20th Century. The legend (which tells you the meaning of the title Devil at the Crossroads) is that Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil for his blues talent.

Netflix's Remastered series is a documentary set about a range of different musicians, and there just happens to be one episode on Robert Johnson. I think the biggest USP that this episode has is that there is so little known about Robert Johnson's actual life that this show would seem like a great goldmine for fans of the blues singer like myself.

I think that breaking this up into a short summary, and then opinions on the show would be an easier way of showcasing to you what I mean, and the pros and cons of this very special documentary show that Netflix put out.

Summary and Overview

About the delta blues king, Robert Johnson—the Netflix Show attempts to put together different pieces of research using those who are either related to Johnson (such as his grandson) and researchers. There's actually one researcher in the show that has been analysing Johnson's life and lyrics for around fifty years. Still, there are research gaps, and yet there is a huge concentration on the fact that we know who Robert Johnson's parents are based on the death certificate, without which we wouldn't know very much at all.

Most of the research conducted into Robert Johnson was done after his death, and many of the facts we know about him are concentrated in and around, many branching off, that death certificate. Gayle Dean Wardlow and others had not only found the death certificate, but had also discussed with many people who had actually known Robert Johnson over many years. Most of the people, if not all of the people, who would've conversed with Robert Johnson are now dead since Johnson himself died in 1938.

This show gives you an insight into many different ideas, piecing together a very visual story about a man, a myth and a legend who had his story made famous by the 60s folkies like Ramblin' Jack Elliot and Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and even by the likes of Keith Richards. I believe that the reason why it's so heavy on the visuals instead of the footage is that because simply, there is no known footage (apart from around 3-4 photographs) that exist of Robert Johnson.

The vast majority of the "story" we have on him comes through:

• interviews from people who knew him once upon a time
• 3-4 photographs that exist of him
• his music
• his death certificate

Everything else has been pieced together, but until the death certificate emerged, the only thing we had about his existence was the music.

My Opinions

One thing I've mentioned (though I'd like to mention it again, because I think it's very clever) is the fact that this documentary uses animations to fill those gaps in the story of Robert Johnson. The spaces where we have no information or pictures, if we don't know where he was living, or what he was really doing. The animations, though small and simple, give life to the myth, and they carry the story between these pieces of what seems like very heavy research. It creates a good storytelling technique, and it makes for great watching too.

Another thing I would say is pretty great is that it shows you various memorabilia items that we have of Robert Johnson. The main thing being the house where he was supposedly born. Though he didn't know his birth father because of a dispute between the two parents, seeing the house where he was born puts everything into perspective. The house is nothing special, nor is it big, it doesn't look bigger than one or two rooms—I think I've seen sheds bigger. Having more than two children growing up in that seems to give you a good idea to what kind of life Robert Johnson dealt with for a lot of his life. He worked on plantations, he lived near the famed Beale Street, he lived through the Harlem Renaissance, possibly witnessed lynching etc.

This film uses snapshots of his birth house, shows you around the "Robert Johnson Museum" (though it is very small), and shows pieces of research that give you a very good idea about the kind of life he had. I found this to be profound and really well made. I also found it increasingly interesting to watch and learn about (though I have read many a book on Robert Johnson).

All in all, I can't really fault the documentary, and it is possibly one of the best stories on Robert Johnson I have ever really witnessed.

Conclusion

This documentary again, is probably one of the best compilations of research pieces I have ever seen on Robert Johnson. The reason being is that whenever they use something that is a "theory," and isn't actually known—they call it such. They don't try to justify the "theory" with story, and they don't try to pull the wool over your eyes, making you believe something that isn't true. Everything that isn't completely known is stated as such, and everything that is actually a fact is used as parts of the story. The only embellishment they use is the legend that one night, at the crossroads, Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil.