BADASS it is!
Added 1/19/2007
This is an interesting and well done film for anyone into the story of the early days of Earth, Wind & Fire and the evolution of black entertainment of the 60s on. Mario and Mandela van Peebles do an amazing job of playing out the story of the older father son combo that started it all.
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What Was Bill Cosby Thinking?
Added 7/16/2006
Mario Van Peebles, Melvin's son, recounts the numerous challenges that had to be overcome before the 1971 black exploitation movie, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, was released. Indeed, it must be conceded that his father is a gutty man. Few would have risked so much to achieve their artistic vision. Unfortunately, Melvin's heroic efforts don't justify the finished product. The senior Van Peebles is the unintentional progeny of D.W. Griffith who some fifty years earlier had glorified the Ku Klux Klan in Birth of a Nation. Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song exacerbated racial tensions and encouraged rampant sexual promiscuity within the Afro-American community. Did you ever wonder why Detroit is such an economic and social basket case? Why so many of its black residents indulge in self pitying victimization? Well, one should never forget that the black power movement was highly influential during this time period. Detroit's Black Panthers chapter, almost single handily, turned Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song into a financial success. What more do you need to know?
We all make mistakes. Bill Cosby is no exception. He provided a $50,000 loan to Melvin Van Peebles to finish the X-Rated movie. What was he thinking? Who should see Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song? It is highly recommended if you desire to understand what happened to numerous blacks residing in the ghettos of our major cities. The destruction did not occur yesterday. No, it happened over three decades ago when Bill Cosby and other political leftists unwittingly encouraged black radicals to act like fools.
David Thomson
Flares into Darkness
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Most Entertaining Lesson on Filmmaking: Mario Van Peeble's Tribute to His Father Melvin
Added 6/17/2006
"Baadasssss" is not only a highly entertaining drama about guerrilla filmmaking, but also is a tribute from its director Mario Van Peebles to his father Melvin Van Peebles, star and director of "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" that shook the movie industry in 1971 by becoming a surprise hit. Not just a hit, but a hit that set a new trend.
Greatly supported by black audiences who related to Melvin's titular hero on the run from the cops, "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" was hugely influential in spawning so-called blaxploitaion films like "Shaft." Mario plays his real-life father Melvin in "Baadasssss," who is fed up with the stereotyped black characters in mainstream Hollywood films, and is determined to make a film that every black can be proud of.
Mario Van Peebles (who was also in "Sweetback's") keeps good pace from the beginning, where we meet oddball characters based on the real people, which to fun to see. Like his father, Mario knows films are made to entertain, and "Baadasssss" does not disappoint us, showing Melvin's tactics like, say, avoiding the interference from the union by pretending that he is making a porno film. The pre-production process is interesting and authentic, and sometimes even funny with the negotiation scenes with investors (including cameo from former Batman Adam West).
As the film goes on, the film gets more serious with the notorious `sex scene' of Mario, then a little boy. You may think Melvin pushes the envelope too far, and the film is honest about his behaviors. Mario is evidently proud of his father and his jobs, but is not sentimental about what happened, showing a balanced view on the darker side of the filmmaking process with semi-documentary touch.
Capable actors are assembles for the production: Joy Bryant, Nia Long, Ossie Davies, David Allan Grier, Paul Rodrigues, Saul Rubinek, and Rain Wilson. But the film virtually belongs to Mario Van Peebles, who embodies the soul of his father.
If you are interested in the 70s or the sub-culture of America, you just cannot miss `Baadasssss.' If not, the film is still worth a look, for it provides incisive look on the cheerful and dark sides of filmmaking.
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MARIO YOU ARE FINE! THE MOVIE IS GREAT!
Added 5/27/2006
I AM 32
YOU ARE VERY FINE AND A GREAT ACTOR AND FILM MAKER!
I LOVE THIS MOVIE!
YOUR FATHER IS GREAT!
I AM SO GLAD TO SEE HIM ALIVE AND WELL!
SORRY ABOUT THE PASSING OF YOUR SISTER!
THIS MOVIE IS A FIVE STAR MOVIE!
*****
0 out of 4 people found this helpful.
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Excellent Film About A Film
Added 9/12/2005
Most cinephiles will tell you that, as a rule, the making of any good film isn't fun, but a lot of pain and hard work. The topic of writer-director Mario Van Peebles' Baadassss! is the making of another film, Melvin Van Peebles 1971 blaxploitation "classic" Sweet Sweetback's Baadassss Song. If the aforementioned rule meant that a film that was made through hard work was automatically good, then Sweetback would have certainly ranked up on the charts with Citizen Kane. Sweetback was made with so much difficulty that most men would have given up before pre-production was finished, but Melvin Van Peebles, as portrayed by his son Mario, had a fiery, singular determination to get his film made that no price was too much to pay.
At the start of the film, Melvin is a director fresh off of directing the racially charged comedy Watermelon Man. He almost immediately decides to direct an action film, "serious as cancer," about a black man who fights corrupt white cops, and, gasp, gets away in the end! While today it is hard to imagine an action film without a positive black character, in 1971 this was a pretty radical notion. Unable to secure funding from the studio, Melvin is forced to solicit money independently, another taboo at the time. Between having next to no cash, inexperienced actors and crew, and a decidedly hostile reception from investors and theater owners, Melvin is pushed to a physical and mental breaking point, struggling to not only complete the film, but to make sure it is seen. One of the film's most interesting and trying moments is when Melvin discovers only two theaters in the entire country are interested in screening his film.
It is an achievement on Mario Van Peebles part that he is able to play Melvin in such a way that we still root for him to succeed. Melvin stomps around the set, barking orders at his overworked and mismatched crew, deferring any and all complaints with the cringe-inducing line "this is bigger than all of us." When most of the crew gets thrown into jail on bogus charges, Melvin refuses to bail them out, once again citing the film. He bounces a $500.00 check to the band Earth, Wind, and Fire. Worst of all, in a scene that reflects what must still be bitter feelings, Melvin orders his son to act in a sex scene. When the young Mario asks what he'll be wearing, Melvin nonchalantly answers "Nothing, this is a sex scene." Most true artists would go to extreme lengths to finish what they see as their life's work, though when Melvin puts his teenage son in a scene that borders on pornographic, the characters and the audience have to collectively wonder if the man is of sound mind.
Baadasssss! is so poignant because of its willingness to honestly explore the making of a film by a man that refuses to give up. Melvin doesn't take joy in being a bastard, but it may be the only way to finish his dream picture. When he chants the line about the film being bigger than him or his crew, we can tell that he believes every word of it, and Van Peebles suggests that Melvin may have been right. With that fiery, singular determination, Melvin is able to make it work. Sweetback may have been a corny action picture with a now dated message, but with Baadassss!, Van Peebles makes a much better film than his father could have dreamed of.
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