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BaadasssssRating:
Release Date: 14 September, 2004 Retail Price: $19.94 OUR Price: $7.97 You SAVE: $11.97! Cast: |
Baadasssss Reviews
What Was Bill Cosby Thinking?
Mario Van Peebles, Melvin's son, recounts the numerous challenges that had to be overcome before the 1971 black exploitation movie, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, was released. Indeed, it must be conceded that his father is a gutty man. Few would have risked so much to achieve their artistic vision. Unfortunately, Melvin's heroic efforts don't justify the finished product. The senior Van Peebles is the unintentional progeny of D.W. Griffith who some fifty years earlier had glorified the Ku Klux Klan in Birth of a Nation. Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song exacerbated racial tensions and encouraged rampant sexual promiscuity within the Afro-American community. Did you ever wonder why Detroit is such an economic and social basket case? Why so many of its black residents indulge in self pitying victimization? Well, one should never forget that the black power movement was highly influential during this time period. Detroit's Black Panthers chapter, almost single handily, turned Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song into a financial success. What more do you need to know?
We all make mistakes. Bill Cosby is no exception. He provided a $50,000 loan to Melvin Van Peebles to finish the X-Rated movie. What was he thinking? Who should see Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song? It is highly recommended if you desire to understand what happened to numerous blacks residing in the ghettos of our major cities. The destruction did not occur yesterday. No, it happened over three decades ago when Bill Cosby and other political leftists unwittingly encouraged black radicals to act like fools.
David Thomson
Flares into Darkness
Most Entertaining Lesson on Filmmaking: Mario Van Peeble's Tribute to His Father Melvin
"Baadasssss" is not only a highly entertaining drama about guerrilla filmmaking, but also is a tribute from its director Mario Van Peebles to his father Melvin Van Peebles, star and director of "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" that shook the movie industry in 1971 by becoming a surprise hit. Not just a hit, but a hit that set a new trend.
Greatly supported by black audiences who related to Melvin's titular hero on the run from the cops, "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" was hugely influential in spawning so-called blaxploitaion films like "Shaft." Mario plays his real-life father Melvin in "Baadasssss," who is fed up with the stereotyped black characters in mainstream Hollywood films, and is determined to make a film that every black can be proud of.
Mario Van Peebles (who was also in "Sweetback's") keeps good pace from the beginning, where we meet oddball characters based on the real people, which to fun to see. Like his father, Mario knows films are made to entertain, and "Baadasssss" does not disappoint us, showing Melvin's tactics like, say, avoiding the interference from the union by pretending that he is making a porno film. The pre-production process is interesting and authentic, and sometimes even funny with the negotiation scenes with investors (including cameo from former Batman Adam West).
As the film goes on, the film gets more serious with the notorious `sex scene' of Mario, then a little boy. You may think Melvin pushes the envelope too far, and the film is honest about his behaviors. Mario is evidently proud of his father and his jobs, but is not sentimental about what happened, showing a balanced view on the darker side of the filmmaking process with semi-documentary touch.
Capable actors are assembles for the production: Joy Bryant, Nia Long, Ossie Davies, David Allan Grier, Paul Rodrigues, Saul Rubinek, and Rain Wilson. But the film virtually belongs to Mario Van Peebles, who embodies the soul of his father.
If you are interested in the 70s or the sub-culture of America, you just cannot miss `Baadasssss.' If not, the film is still worth a look, for it provides incisive look on the cheerful and dark sides of filmmaking.
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