Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

[+ Lucky]

This movie is getting plenty of publicity. Have you been following it? I keep waiting for someone here to write about it. Is it only for jazz lovers? Is it worth seeing if only for Chadwick Boseman's final work?

This column at theantlantic.com makes me think it is worth watching:

 

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom begins with what seems at first like a harrowing journey. Netflix’s new adaptation of the late August Wilson’s play opens with a foreboding shot of the woods; the only noises are of crickets chirping, dogs barking, and young Black men gasping for air as they sprint through the trees. But then, we hear the music. As soon as the men detect Ma Rainey’s thunderous voice spilling out from a tent where the famed blueswoman is singing, we know they’re safe. Cradled by sweet sounds and the chatter of the crowd, they’ve made it home.

 

Released yesterday on streaming, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom tells the story of a fictionalized Ma (played by Viola Davis) gathering with her backing band to record new songs in a Chicago studio in 1927. The members of the band—Cutler (Colman Domingo), Slow Drag (Michael Potts), Levee (Chadwick Boseman, in his final role), and Toledo (Glynn Turman)—clash with one another and with the white managers producing Ma’s album. But like Wilson’s play, the George C. Wolfe–directed film isn’t just about a brilliant singer, or about the entertainment industry. The story concerns itself chiefly with the role of music in documenting and, in some cases, defusing the unspeakable pains that birthed the blues. Even when no songs are playing, Ma Rainey is a reminder of Wilson’s reverence for the genre. Just as the film takes care to depict its lead’s formidable presence, it pays attention to the larger forces threatening Ma’s artistry—and the lives of all the singers in the room with her.

https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/12/ma-raineys-black-bottom-netflix/617445/

[samhexum]

This movie is getting plenty of publicity.... Is it only for jazz lovers? Is it worth seeing if only for Chadwick Boseman's final work?

Viola Davis was on THE VIEW Friday and what was said about it (and Ma) was interesting. Davis said she and Boseman had attended several publicity events together and that he never left her and her husband's sides during them; they were that close.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51hnCYfAFWo:143

[+ WilliamM]

Wonderful interview, thanks, @samhexum

[KrisParr]

It’s a great film. A little slow in spots, but the last 10 minutes or so are riveting. There should be awards galore.

[+ Axiom2001]

Yesterday, my niece who lives in Brooklyn, NY, posted highly favorable comments about this film on Facebook. Today, a friend of mine who lives in Los Angeles, posted likewise. Since two individuals who I know chose to recommend this film, I think that after I overdose on all of the NBA Basketball games next Saturday, Christmas Day and evening, and before retiring for the evening, I take in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.

 

I read "jazz" in a previous post. Ma Rainey sang "the blues."

[TruthBTold]

Just finished watching this on streaming Netflix and have to recommend it (if you have not seen it). I found it really interesting in that it reflects the past of African Americans but is also extremely applicable today. The cast is incredible however Viola Davis is just beyond. She is one of those actors that does not seem to "play" a part but rather inhabit a role, at least this one. And it has some amazing monologues. Though she has several noteworthy monologues I particularly like the one where Ma Rainey speaks about how music transforms her life and the world in general. Another is where she notes that she must demand her due for doing what she does because otherwise as a woman and particularly as a black woman she would be exploited by all groups of people.

[Rocca]

Great film, I thought it was a fast watch. Chadwick and Viola both incredible.