A Poem Is a Naked Person

A recent Criterion Collection box set devoted to the late Les Blank’s work has cemented his reputation as one of America’s most original and exciting documentary filmmakers. The never-released A Poem Is a Naked Person has only existed as a rumor among film and music fans, including some who have called it the finest rock ’n’ roll movie ever made. An ineffable mix of unbridled joy and vérité realism, the film follows singer-songwriter Leon Russell—a hit-writing collaborator of Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Joe Cocker, George Harrison, and the Rolling Stones—and the world of friends and fellow artists who orbit his recording studio in Oklahoma. Interspersed with live concert scenes, the film is a time capsule that is simply not to be missed. (90 mins., DCP)