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SYNOPSIS __________
Plot:
In "Baadasssss!" Mario Van Peebles pay tribute to
his dad, pioneer black filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles. The Movie
dramatically recounts the saga of what his father went through
more than 30 years ago when Melvin decided to go against every
grain in American filmmaking to make his breakout hit, "Sweet
Sweetback's Baad Asssss Song." Following the success
of his directing debut, "The Watermelon Man," made
for a Hollywood studio in 1970, Melvin decides against all
conventional wisdom to make a movie about a black street hustler
turned revolutionary running from racist cops. And the only
way to do this is with independent financing. He doesn’t
stop there, though. Melvin insists on a multiethnic crew.
To throw the then-white unions off the scent, he pretends
he is making a porno.
Every step is an uphill battle: raising money, crewing up,
losing financing, recasting when SAG won’t sign off,
running out of money, then refusing to submit the film to
the all-white MPAA ratings board, meaning an automatic X rating.
After sinking his heart, soul and family money into the project,
Melvin discovers that only two theaters in the United States
will play such a film. Encouraging Melvin are his white co-producer
Bill (Rainn Wilson), his long-suffering secretary Priscilla
(Joy Bryant), Clyde (David Alan Grier), a black porn producer
anxious to break into films where people wear clothes, his
Latino B camera crew operator Jose (Paul Rodriguez) and his
even longer-suffering girlfriend Sandra (Nia Long).
DETAILS__________
Studio:
Sony Pictures Classics
Based on:
Melvin Van Peebles' book "Sweet Sweetback's
Baadasssss Song"
Release Date:
May 28, 2004 (Limited) |
