The Hank Williams biopic I Saw the Light premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival tomorrow, and though the film still doesn’t have a trailer, the first clip has been released, revealing star Tom Hiddleston’s take on the musical legend, as well as his music. (Hiddleston’s vocals are used throughout I Saw the Light.)
Short of a trailer, it is perhaps the best introduction possible to the biopic’s revivification of Williams, as it features Hiddleston performing his breakout hit, the tremendously catchy 1947 song “Move it on Over.” The song, as the clip depicts, was recorded in Nashville — and the lyrics unsurprisingly feature a very 1940s depiction of a man who’s in the (figurative and literal) doghouse after his wife refuses to let him in when he comes home late.
The clip also shows a glimpse of Elizabeth Olsen as Audrey Williams, Hank’s manager, singing partner, wife, eventual divorcée, then eventual rekindlée, then eventual second-time divorcée. Her dialogue — in which she instructs builders on setting up her home — seems weightily juxtaposed with the lyrics, foreshadowing domestic turmoil due to Williams’ alcoholism and infidelity.
Similar to every other biopic that traces the insidious influences of fame on artistic mind, I Saw the Light‘s official description reads as follows:
[It’s] the story of the legendary country western singer Hank Williams, who in his brief life created one of the greatest bodies of work in American music. The film chronicles his meteoric rise to fame and its ultimately tragic effect on his health and personal life.
Watch the clip:
Via /Film.