William Klein

"This is the third film in my series about super black legends. Like James Brown and Otis Redding, Richard was born in a little town in the South. At church, the teenagers and kids sing Glory Halleluiah till they're fit to burst. Richard brought that screaming into rock. Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney were some of the ones who imitated him. Richard had a talent for putting on the stage the unknown models from his neighbourhood. In the 1950s, the Richard explosion revolutionized rock. He was truly ‘the king' when he came to Europe. Then he stopped. He owed the taxman improbable sums of money. Then he became a minister in the church. The filming was an odyssey. Ultimately, for me, he was first and foremost a way of talking about America." (W. Klein)

Contacts, William Klein, 1983, 15', 35 mm
The Little Richard Story, William Klein, 1980, 90', video