The Rape of Recy Taylor

Filmmaker Nancy Buirski’s documentary centers on the 1944 gang-rape of the titular 24-year-old African American woman in small-town Alabama, which was followed by a complete lack of justice at the hands of a racist system. Archival materials (including re-enacted depositions), extended excerpts from interviews with Taylor’s brother and sister, and comments from historians Crystal Feimster and Danielle L. McGuire (who discuss not only the specific case of Taylor but also the larger worldview it represented) bring home the sad reality of how seven young white men, brought up to consider the casual abuse of a black woman as their birthright, escaped scot-free (Rosa Parks is introduced as a young NAACP activist whose attempt to interview the Taylor family is brutally obstructed by the local sheriff). The film closes on a powerful note with a brief glimpse of the aged, infirm Taylor (who died in December 2017 at the age of 97) in a nursing home, along with an account of how she overcame her experience to build a fulfilling life. Unfortunately, the documentary is rather clumsily structured, and the periodic inclusion of clips from the so-called "race films" made by directors such as Oscar Micheaux for African American audiences proves a debatable choice, blurring the line between reality and fiction. Despite the film’s flaws, however, the plight of Recy Taylor (whose story Oprah Winfrey briefly alluded to in a Golden Globes speech) illuminates a culture of inequality that existed in full force not so long ago (and still echoes in contemporary society), where profound injustices were not only permitted but also encouraged. Recommended, overall. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)