BaadAsssss Cinema

Blaxploitation films exploded onto movie screens during the early 1970s in a profusion of riotous polyester color: the costumes were gaudy, the characters were over-the-top caricatures, and the plots invariably revolved around life and crime in the urban jungle where antiheroes were the rule. And then it was over. Whereas blaxploitation flicks were once hailed for empowering African American actors, filmmakers, and audiences, as well as offering street kids heroes they could relate to, a backlash quickly arose, accusing the genre of ripping off black audiences and setting bad moral examples. Indeed, black directors such as Gordon Parks (Shaft) and Melvin Van Peebles (Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song) gave way to white directors as the major studios jumped at the chance to make money in this low-budget genre with its enthusiastic, paying audience. But, as Pam Grier points out in this entertaining and enlightening Independent Film Channel documentary from filmmaker Isaac Julien, after the blaxploitation craze died, black employment in Hollywood declined--although the studios kept right on grinding out low budget, high margin profits with the next big thing: kung-fu action movies. Boasting an all-star slate of interviewees (including Grier, Richard Roundtree, Samuel L. Jackson, Quentin Tarantino, Fred "The Hammer" Williamson, and others), this is an informative and engaging trip down memory lane that's sure to hit the sweet spot with aging urban Boomers. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: H, C, P. (M. Tribby)