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By
WAYNE KLEIN
Dying is great for the music
and film business. After John Lennon was
assassinated in 1980, a whole slew of legal and
illegal releases saturated the market. Tupac
Shakur was at the top of his game and at his most
popular when he was murdered. And his popularity
continues unabated by death.
This punningly titled documentary on Tupac's life
focuses on the positive, without shying away from
the negatives about his character and the
situations he got himself into during his brief
career as a rapper and actor. This documentary
features Tupac himself narrating the events of his
life. Pieced together from countless interviews,
director Laruen Lazin creates a seamless,
subjective look at Tupac's life. And while the
objective element may be missed, Lazin creates a
much more intimate, powerful film than she might
have otherwise. Her film (produced, it should be
noted, by former Black Panther Afeni Shankur and
Tupac's mother) comes across as a kinder, gentler
look back at a young man who had a huge impact on
the world of rap.
"Tupac" receives a sharp, vivid transfer and looks
terrific. Some of the footage is a bit grainy
looking but that's due more to the source than the
transfer itself. The high quality 5.1 Surround mix
is used to good advantage here as well. Packed
with extras, this DVD features a number of
exclusive interviews that weren't included in the
theatrical release, including one with Mutulu
Shankur. We also get to see Tupac's Malcolm X
dinner speech, which, again, is seen only in
snippets in the film. There's also a deposition
about Tupac's death, music videos including
"Runnin'" and trailers for the film. Shakur and
the director provide a running commentary that
acts as a nice counter balance to the story,
particularly about later on, when Tupac's life
began to take a violent turn including encounters
with The Notorious B.I.G. and others.
A solid, engaging and interesting feature, "Tupac"
suggests there was much more to this rap artist
than his music. His ability to draw on the
violence that surrounded his generation and put
his experience as an African American into his
music made him a unique spokesman for the
disaffected young everywhere. |
