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There are certain moments in John Ridley’s biopic Jimi: All Is By My Side where it feels as if you are experiencing the world through the same lens as Jimi Hendrix; the erratic movement of sound and vision, the deep colours of a blossoming flower or the rough textures of a guitar chord all contribute to this lucid and feverous state.

Beginning in New York and moving to vibrant late 60s London, Jimi charts one year in the musician’s life, growing from an unknown backup guitarist known as Jimi James to the rock legend we are familiar with. Former Outkast frontman André Benjamin (aka André 3000) provides an uncanny impression of the late musician, ably shifting from a soft-spoken gentleness and cool disregard for anything but music to a wild and riotous anger. It is not difficult to see why the film does not have the support of the Hendrix Estate with Benjamin’s performance often as intimidating as it is enthralling. These disparate aspects of his character speak to the larger themes of identity and image that pervade the film. The question of just who is Jimi Hendrix and what he’s about is one that is consistently returned to. Indeed the man we first meet at the beginning of the film is far from the Hendrix we have become accustomed to. The film is as much about the formation of that identity as it is about questioning its meaning. Hendrix Begins, if you will.

As befitting a film about a rock icon of the 1960s, Ridley and his editors Hank Corwin and Chris Gill work overtime to bring an overwhelming sense of style and flair to the film, effectively creating what could be deemed the real Jimi Hendrix Experience. The pace and editing of the film mirror the way Hendrix plays, hands and fingers deftly jumping from one chord to the next in a random and staccato fashion. Sounds and images appear and fade without context, moving back and forth from silence to a cacophony of noise, endlessly erratic and fluid. While for some this could be too much of an assault on the senses, and at times it is just that, Ridley does display a degree of control. During the quieter moments, the films “coolness” is reined in and the camera stilled, allowing the many strong performances (particularly Imogen Poots as Linda Keith) to breathe.

Bolstered by a fitting sense of style and a talented supporting cast, Jimi is ultimately a fascinating and intimate portrayal of Hendrix during the formative years of his career.

Jimi: All Is By My Side is now showing at the Irish Film Institute and the Lighthouse Cinema.