Nothing But a Man

Here's an American neo-realist masterwork that captures the temper of black consciousness in the south just prior to the mass upheavals of the era. Long before Scorsese made "Mean Streets" and "Raging Bull," Michael Roemer had made this great film. No other film dramatizes so profoundly the plight of a man whose basic human pride will not be compromised under any circumstances. Ivan Dixon as Duff gives one of the greatest performances in the history of cinema and Abbey Lincoln as Josie, the preacher's daughter he tries to settle down with, is just about perfect in control of nuance. These characters are extraordinary "ordinary" people, truly heroic; yet the tragedy that stalks them may or may not be hopeless at this time in history, due to an apparent shift in black consciousness, a general "fed-up-with-it-all" attitude that needs men like Duff to inspire itself. The entire cast is uniformly excellent and there are too many classic scenes to mention here. The film seems cut directly from the fabric of real life in semi-documentary-Rossellini-style. It is pure. "Little Fugitive" and "Medium Cool" are the only other pre-70s American films I've seen that feel this real. In terms of the subtlety with which racial politics and power relations are exposed through simple gestures and acts rather than rhetoric and melodrama, Martin Ritt's "Sounder" and Paul Schrader's "Blue Collar" are the only films I've seen that come close. Charles Burnett's "Killer of Sheep," also comes to mind. There are a lot of lessons to be learned here, especially by directors like Spike Lee, who I'm sure has seen this movie, and who has made decent films in the past (Do the Right Thing, She's gotta have it), but now wastes his time making laughable, "really hardcore," "I want to transcend puny barriers with overloads of style" cartoons like "Summer of Sam." "Nothing but a Man" is light years away from the nonsense they call "realism" these days. Over and out.

Unlike other well-intentioned films of the period, NOTHING BUT A MAN presents the main character as neither saint nor scoundrel, but as a complex man with human contradictions. Ivan Dixon gives one of the best performances of his career as the lead character of Duff. A film of rare quality and subtlety.

I thoroughly enjoyed "Nothing But a Man." Unlike other films before it, it shows black men and casts them in lead roles instead of sticking them in white circles. It is an excellent and faithful depiction of problems that blacks faced, such as maratial, familial, and social dilemmas. This film also focuses on black masculinity and what being a black man is about, and it highlights the struggle and contrast of being free and easy and not tied down as opposed to being married and struggling for one's dignity. The film itself is great for its neorealistic style. It is like a documentary in many respects. It is black & white, gritty, and has no soundtracks running (save the Motown and the gospel). Unlike the race films of Micheaux and Williams who used this documentary-style depiction to push their messages, Roemer fearlesssly shows the brutality and bleakness of African-American life, with an ending reminiscent of Orwell's 1984. I loved this movie. It is honest, non-patronizing, and accurate. I saw it in my ethnic cinema class, and I highly recommend it.

This is a very fine movie, but I won't lie to you: it's not always easy to watch. It recounts the story of a Black man in the 1960s American South (outside Birmingham, AL), his problems with relationships, with white men who mistreat him, etc. Sometimes he reacts in admirable ways, sometimes he does not. Because of that, and because of the very fine acting, the characters in this movie come off as very real, not at all Hollywood caricatures. But that doesn't always make the movie easy to watch.

It's more than worth the occasional discomfort, however, because it's really a very fine movie, one that presents very real people going though all too real life situations and dealing with them in very human ways. Not a movie you will forget quickly, I can promise you, and very definitely not a waste of your time to watch.

This is an excellent film, and I'm surprised it's not received more plaudits here. An exceptional movie, especially given the period in which it was made, about a young black man trying to "do the right thing" and make a life for himself in the South. Beautifully acted by everyone involved, Nothing But a Man lets you live the struggles that black men live(d) every day. The struggle to find a job, keep a job, be a man, raise a family, all while under the white shadow of racial bigotry. This is not a particularly uplifting film...you never get sense that everything will work out in the end, but because of this, the movie is all the more realistic. This is a CLASSIC, a true sleeper, that should be seen by everyone. The DVD version includes interviews with the cast and film makers 40 years later. In her interview, Abbey Lincoln seems to come undone while reflecting on the movie, the Struggle, and how little real progress has been made.