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By
WADE GOSSETT
For the uninitiated "BaadAsssss Cinema" is a very good introduction to this uniquely American
cinematic movement; and for fans, well, it is an aptly raunchy celebration.
Make no mistake about it. I firmly think blaxploitation films represented a short-lived movement, not merely a genre.
And there's sample justification to my contention in the first part of this documentary from the Independent Film
Channel: filmmaker Isaac Julien takes us back to the early 70s and provides the political context that gave birth to
blaxploitation films.
Fortunately, Julien does not forget that blaxploitation films were also a guilty pleasure, full of exuberant energy,
with over the top action, comedy, and, yes, sex. Aesthetically too, they looked different and sounded different than the
stuff from Hollywood.
Interspersed is footage from such classics as "Superfly," "Shaft" (undoubtedly the most mainstream of them all) and
Melvin Van Peeble's "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" (undoubtedly the most imaginatively titled). There are also
interviews with prominent performers like Richard Rountree and Pam Grier, die-hard fans like Quentin Tarantino, and film
historian Armond White. Overall, a solid exploration and tribute of a cult phenomenon. |
