Crossroads (1986 film)
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Crossroads is a 1986 cult film inspired by the legend of Robert Johnson. The film was directed by Walter Hill, and featured an original score by Ry Cooder. Starring Ralph Macchio, the film also features renowned guitarist Steve Vai as the devil's guitar player in the climactic guitar duel.
Plot
Eugene Martone is fascinated by the blues but studies classical guitar at the Juilliard School for performing arts. He visits a local seniors' home in which blues legend Willie Brown lives against his will and cannot get past the security. To get around this Eugene gets a job as a janitor there, but when he meets his idol, Willie denies that he is the same Willie Brown that Eugene is looking for.
When Eugene plays the guitar for Willie, the old man finally acknowledges his identity and the boy's skill. However, Willie criticises Eugene's lack of experience and will not let him have a missing Robert Johnson tune unless Eugene helps him escape from the home and return to Mississippi.
On their travels, Eugene and Willie make their way to the Mississippi delta and experience the legacy of Robert Johnson first-hand, taking part in an impromptu jam session at a blues bar. They also meet Scratch, the devil who bought Johnson's soul in exchange for the gift of his innovative guitar style. Eugene finds out that Willie Brown made a similar deal with Scratch back in the day. Now that he is an old man, he is worried that his soul's status will become a factor sooner rather than later.
In their travels, they pick-up a hitchhiker, Frances (Jami Gertz). Eugene and Frances share a tender moment in a hayloft. After Frances suddenly leaves and Eugene tells Brown how much he is going to miss her, Brown confesses that there was no missing song for Eugene to learn, but that he has proven himself far beyond what learning any blues song could.
Brown finally returns back to the crossroads with Eugene in hopes of breaking off the deal for his soul. There, Eugene offers to try to win Brown's soul back in a head-cutting duel with a guitar player of Scratch's choice. Scratch chooses Jack Butler (played by Steve Vai), a modern blues man who has also sold his soul for the music. After a blistering guitar duel, Eugene eventually manages to incorporate the training he received at Juilliard and win the duel.
Trivia
The climax cutting head battle scene has been widely popularized over the internet by guitarists who are fans of Steve Vai. [link] Ralph Macchio's blues guitar parts were played by Ry Cooder, although his winning classical piece was actually played by his competitor in the film, Steve Vai.External links
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