I'd hardly call this film entertainment in the narrow sense of the word ("
Commando" it isn't) but I found it tremendously enjoyable. It's a documentary about author-activist James Baldwin. At the same time, it's a documentary about Malcolm X, Martin Luther King and Medgar Evers, the narration provided solely by Baldwin recordings and excerpts from published and unpublished Baldwin manuscripts read by Samuel L. Jackson. It also is an essay film about race relations in the United States from the times of slavery through the civil rights movement up to today.
The visual side is an essayistic montage that uses footage from the 1960s civil rights movement, Baldwin appearances in TV shows and lecture halls, classic Hollywood movies, and contemporary images from the Rodney King beating, Ferguson MO, or Black Lives Matter rallys to great effect, emphasizing points Baldwin makes, not the least the difference between "black America" and "white America". For example, a
snippet from "Lover come back" showing a glittery-top wearing Doris Day in a squeaky-clean, technicolor dream of a kitchen is cut against press photos of lyching victims hung from trees contemporary to the film's release. The soundtrack is a great selection of early Blues tracks and some Soul, climaxing in this
deeply moving rendition of The Ballad of Birmingham by Tennesse State U Students, finally dumping us in the not-so-changed realities of the 2010s with a Kendrick Lamar song.
I was very impressed by the movie and eventhough I am aware that it makes a good part of it's argument through highly suggestive editing, I think it makes a strong argument towards where America has changed since the sixties and where it hasn't and why the "negro question" still is at the heart of America's way into the future. As going further would definitly venture into political territory, all I'd say is "watch it". For our German and French users, you can stream it on arte.tv.
9/10.