Never again will we think of June Carter as just the wife character played by Reese Witherspoon in the Johnny Cash biopic with Joaquin Phoenix. There’s no doubt that Cash was an inescapable figure in American music. But June Carter — the composer of the phenomenon popularised by Cash, “Ring of Fire” — is the focus here. A documentary to discover a prolific and renowned country artist in her own voice.
The importance of this documentary lies in its title and its intention. The popular saying โbehind every great man is a great womanโ can’t avoid a certain degree of condescension, but there’s something real it’s pointing to, which is the fact that, for example, in a couple where both are talented, the man ends up having more visibility and the woman ends up having less of a legacy. In June Carter Cash’s case, that’s exactly what happened. Coming from an artistic and musical family, the Carter Family, she had her own career before (and after) her name merged with Johnny Cash’s in the world of country music, which included five Grammys and a run within the world of cinema and television. The film shines its light directly on this figure of American music. (Ana Cabral Martins)