An era of its own. A time when American was in a transition from separatism to civil rights. The 70's was a Golden Age on so many levels and the influence echoes around the world in present day. Blaxploitation is considered in my opinion to be the coolest of cool. Touching on the most sensitive material in America at its time and exploiting them on the big screen or the vinyls in your record player produced for a glorified genre that nobody will ever be able to duplicate. Our mission at Blax-Pride is to educate those who are unfamiliar with this era and combine knowledge with those who are familiar.
Also you will notice Kung Fu movies on this site as well. What does this have to do with Blaxploitation? Well, the more action packed Blaxploitation films did not just street fight. Oh no.....they thought they were Kung Fu Masters. Chinese martial art movies gave a sense of invincibility to these actors. Seeing how cool it was to be a masterful fighter, why not just integrate this with Pimpin', Hustlin', Jive Talkin' and Pam Grier? Blax-Pride!!!
Starring:
- Godfrey Cambridge
- Estelle Parsons
IMDb.com
"Watermelon Man" might throw off quite a few people with its style of cinema. It's a work of the grandfather of American independent film, Melvin Van Peebles, and with that should come a certain measure of respect. Van Peebles may not have produced dozens of films, but he certainly turned the industry on its head 30 years ago. This is an interesting arrangement on the business side- hot off the European success of "The Story Of A Three Day Pass", Warner Brothers takes on filmmaker Van Peebles for a feature film. The story of Van Peebles versus the company in filming is a conte in itself, but the film remains poignant and striking in its cinematography and theme. Aggressive editing of both film and musical inserts highlight the subtle comedy and pure desperation of the story of a bigot who wakes up Black and watches the world turn against him.
Link to soundtrack review
Melvin Van Peebles - The Watermelon Man (1970)
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