Baadasssss!

Aw, damn. We can't make fun of Mario Van Peebles anymore. Always something of a laughing stock (despite a few good contributions, like a good performance in "Ali" and directing "New Jack City"), Mario Van Peebles has made himself instantly much cooler by making this fun and suitably chaotic film, which chronicles the making of his father Melvin's landmark film "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song".

I've never seen that film, but from what I understand it's not exactly great, but was revolutionary for existing at all. It's about a black man "taking it to the man" and actually getting away with it, which was unheard of at the time.

Mario plays his own father, and "Baadasssss!" certainly doesn't candy-coat it. Melvin was essentially a good man, but could be incredibly cold and mean, and to his own family, and the film shows that. It also takes us back to the notorious scene in "Sweetback" where Melvin used his own 13 year-old son in the scene where the the titular character loses his virginity. This scene was difficult and uncomfortable for everyone involved, EXCEPT Melvin, which is telling.

The movie is swiftly paced and stylish, but I couldn't help feeling that it could be a little better. It feels a little messy and disorganized at times. Still, good stuff.

This is now just being shown in select theaters across the country and I got the chance to see this film just the other night,and it is a welcome sigh of relief from the outcome of summer rubbish that is clogging the nearby multiplexes. But with "Baadasssss!",co-writer and director Mario Van Peebles has offered a stunning tribute to his father,Melvin Van Peebles,whose groundbreaking 1971 classic film became one of the highest-grossing independent films of that year,and also opened the floodgates for a string of blaxploitation movies to come throughout the decade of the 1970's. The film is also a case of cinematic one-upsmanship in which Mario Van Peebles,himself,plays his father Melvin,warts and all,during the course of the older man's production of his greatest claim to fame,the cult sensation independent film of 1971,"Sweet Sweetback's Baadassss Song",which was in fact a film that didn't get much hearsay when it first came out,but by word of mouth became the surprise hit of that year since the 1971 film was "X" rated by an all-white jury for some outlandish content and shocking scenes.

For those individuals who have never seen this blaxploitation classic,or who have managed to see it in its entirely in the video store or in college film courses or during midnight screenings on college campuses(where it is shown during Black History Month)or most recently during Black Film Festivals where panel discussions are formed regarding this landmark cinematic piece of African-American film-making. The picture "Sweet Sweetback's Baadassss Song",stars Melvin Van Peebles himself as a bordello stud performer in Los Angeles who gets arrested and beaten by racist White cops,kills two of them,and manages to escape(the movie concluded with Van Peebles running endlessly over hill and dale)while he stays on the lam,while the chants throughout blasts out: "You killed my momma!","You killed my poppa!","You killed my brother!", "You killed my sister!"......."But you won't killed me!"............. The picture was very low budget making it grainy and hallucinogenic in the fashion of that era and it featured a throbbing,Greek chorus style accompaniment from an unknown band at the time...Earth,Wind,and Fire who would go on to become one of the most successful funk/R&B bands of the 1970's. "Sweetback" is credited with being the first film to have a black man taking charge of his own production and his own financing of the film and his own representations through his own independent film company,which was a bold and prosperous move at the time. "Sweetback" introduce to the world black street language and attitudes plus it wa also a winner to celebrate a lawless hero who stood up to the wrongful doings of the Man and came up a bonafide winner.

In "Baadassss!",Mario Van Peebles re-creates from start to finish the making of "Sweetback" and the convulsive life around the production. Now in his mid-forties,he plays his father at roughly the same age,and following his father,he wrote the screenplay for the movie(with Dennis Haggerty),co-produced,and directed it. He has not just stepped into his father's shoes,but captured every stanza and every body movement and it works very well here. The story of this famous tale of Melvin Van Peebles goes this way:in 1970,after directing the controversial successful comedical satire "Watermelon Man",starring Godfrey Cambridge,Van Peebles(who had a three-picture deal with Columbia Pictures at the time)turning his back on the glad-handing executives at Columbia,and the way Hollywood portrayed blacks on film,was thinking of explaining his vision to his agents whom turned him down so instead to make this film he had to be manipulative and devious enough to pull off the impossible,and he did. As far as the story goes,he did a lot of hustling to get this film made whatever the odds were against him which was a phenomenal amount of accomplishments he had to face to get this off the ground and running. Melvin passes the film off as a black "porn-movie" and shoots a scene to further that impression,but he had to enlists the help of a lot of people including a white stoner,a black porn producer,a reclusive gangbanger,and other social undesirables which includes a Bob Evans-style producer that turns out to be a gay-shooter too(and that is played by Adam West....yes,that Adam West. That's right boys and girls....Batman himself)not to mention using his own kids for this project as well. The movie captures some of the desperation and the easy pleasures of the period which turns out to be an exhausting,pleasurable,great piece of entertainment for a great summer escapism. However,"Baadassss!" is a celebration of sorts,which in turn reminds us that the political fervor that animated the films of Melvin Van Peebles and his contemporaries has largely disappeared from the American scene which there are notable exceptions such as Micheal Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11",and Spike Lee's "Do The Right Thing". In an era where black entertainers are producing too many borderline minstrel entertainment like "Barbershop","White Chicks","Soul Plane",Mario Van Peebles' "Baadassss!" is a welcome call to arms,and its a grand honor to represent one of the great pioneers of Black Cimema. But it is also a mystery to this day for the son of Melvin Van Peebles,Mario whose greatest achievement as a film director,the 1991 crime-drama,"New Jack City",and the 1992 all-black western "Posse",and as an B-listed actor doesn't get the ultimate respect he greatly deserves. Let's hope he gets some respect here with this stunning tribute.

I had been putting off seeing this, and then was pleasantly surprised.

I didn't know much about Mario Van Peebles, nor of his father ("Sweet Sweetback's Baad Asssss Song" came out 2 years before I was born) but after seeing this homage to Mr. Van Peebles and seeing how much he risked - everything from finances to his family and his own health, for his dream of "the world" to really see life from the African American point of view, the way it really is, is well impressive to say the least.

The unimaginable struggle, the pressure and the sheer will that Mario portrays in his father is a touching tribute. Mario reveals his father's motives for making "Sweetback" in a moving and heartfelt way, documenting how Hollywood portrayed races other than white - if you are not white, then you are the white man's servant - how at that time - no one and no other film had film portrayed a Black Man as a hero or the struggles that he or any other race faces. It is a tale that is bigger than him and despite the risk and struggle, he fights to tell it. This is a fitting homage to a pioneer of a Genre and a Father.

"Baadasssss!" It also depicts the rugged world of guerrilla film-making and the rabid fight involved in making an indie film from inception to distribution. After seeing this I take a much greater heed of the Van Peebles Name, "Baadasssss!" is worthy film as a Drama in its own right, an Homage to a Pioneer and Father and as a Documenty Tribute to a Piece of Film History.

There have been many movies, usually bittersweet comedies, about movie-making with the director as the put-upon ringmaster of eccentrics, like Truffaut's "Day for Night" or "Living in Oblivion," or bio-pics that show the director as eccentric visionary, like "Ed Wood" or "Matinee."

But I think "Baadasssss!" is one of very few to show the filmmaker as a driven artist, more comparable to the intense look at a ground-breaking creator like "Pollock."

Writer/director/producer Mario Van Peebles eerily reenacts how his father Melvin wrote/directed/produced the seminal "Sweet Sweetback's Baad Asssss Song," one of the first indie movies that also virtually created the potent blaxpoitation genre and guerrilla moviemaking; I thought I had seen it back in '71, but as soon as this film started I realized my memory was, embarrassingly, confusing it with Robert Downey Sr.'s "Putney Swope," so now I do need to see the original.

The production design, including costumes and hair styles, exquisitely recreates the era, but the editing and cinematography suck us even further into Melvin's head as he incisively surveys the state of the image of blacks in movies up to that time and story boards his response.

Melvin's obsession to create and complete the film according to his vision and on his terms threatens his health and his personal and business relationships, but we are caught up in his whirlwind and root for him no matter how ruthless and prickly he becomes as the odds get ever longer and more frustrating and he refuses to compromise, taking offense at lame, well-meaning suggestions, for example, that he might get further if he would at least smile. But he everywhere, rightly or overly sensitively, only sees racism and condescension, including when he has to part layers of irony to beg Bill Cosby for help.

Recalling the spirit of Werner Herzog's documentary "My Best Fiend" about his tortured collaboration with Klaus Kinski to portray obsessives in "Fitzcarraldo" and "Aguirre: The Wrath of God," Mario adds layers of Freudian issues as this filial tribute unflinchingly includes the father's treatment of the son on set and off in the original film and unsparingly brings to life everyone around them.

Mario effectively borrows other bio-pic techniques, such as the camera-facing interviewees in "Reds," first by their portrayers, then, next to the closing credits, the real people, concluding with a loving portrait of his father.

Contrary to the original film, which boosted the careers of the fledging Earth, Wind, and Fire, the soundtrack instrumentation here is surprisingly traditional and sentimental.

The Portrait of the Artist can rarely be a Portrait of a Nice Guy and "Baadasssss!" beautifully and honestly shows why.

Ever wonder what it would be like to make your own film without a studio to support you and no money in the bank to fund it. Well, thankfully Mario Van Peebles' father forged ahead in the 70s with a dream and passion like no other. While Hollywood was content with making pictures that negatively depicted African Americans, Melvin Van Peebles decided to break this cultural norm and change the face of cinema.

With no budget, money from friends and drug dealers, and a non-union crew, Melvin created the impossible. He grabbed a hold of an idea and let nothing get in the way from accomplishing it. Melvin had a dream of making an African American the center of the film, one that took no sass from anyone and criticized the modern white Government. While big studios backed away from this project, Melvin jumped forward made Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. There were trial and tribulations to get it done, but thanks to a very surprising source the film became a success. It was the first independent film to become the number one film in America.

Similar to the passion seen in Melvin's eyes when he is making his low-budget film, Mario portrays that exact same involvement when making this low-budget film. What I loved about this film is that there is so much raw, unbridled emotion behind Mario's eyes that you can tell that he 1) loves his Dad and 2) wanted to show America the truth behind this innovator's life. This is Mario's past, and he superbly reenacts it on screen. He carries this film, showing us the many facets of his father. He shows the angry American, the independent talent, the powerful leader, and even the emotional parent. Through all of this Mario continues to keep this film focused and interesting. We cannot keep our eyes off his portrayal of his father. I would not be surprised if he is nominated for an Oscar this year.

Finally, this is a very powerful film that speaks about a side of Hollywood that is less known. It shows how the boundaries of racism can be broken with imagination and persistence. It shows that 'all men are created equal' and that if you have a dream you should pursue it. If you are in the process of making your own film and need a movie that will inspire and motivate, this would be the film to watch. From the moment I put this film in my DVD player, I was glued. What a powerful story coupled with interesting actors (Adam West and Sally Struthers) and told with a very realistic voice.

I highly recommend this film.

Grade: **** out of *****