Melvin Van Peebles, from what I've seen from interviews and from the impression I get of him from Baadasssss!, was not always the most pleasant-natured guy, and loaded with attitude, but then how could he be, or couldn't be? Here's a man who had some clout following a moderately successful movie, Watermelon Man, and suddenly found himself in the cross-hairs of artistic and commercial perspectives: to make a full-on, unadulterated representation of a side not seen in the black community on film 'as-it-is', and appeal to a mass audience. Peebles knew he had a base, however, or at least knew he did in his gut somewhere, and went for broke, literally as well as figuratively, to get his little underground production from start to finish. It's in this context though that this film's writer/director/star, son Mario Van Peebles, goes further than his father even did in a way, albeit not attempting to break the ground his father did. There's actually some sort of very intrinsic stuff going on, and one wonders how self-reflexive (and a little disturbing in how frank it is) to see Mario Van Peebles playing his own father and involving himself, as a boy, in the production as the movie's hero losing his virginity at the age of 13. It's frankness, actually, is a virtue as opposed to something off-putting.
Peebles has more resources technically than his father did, but there's more than that that makes Baadasssss! such a awesomely cool examination of a headstrong, half-crazy half-brilliant filmmaker and production story. There's a wonderful mix of abrasive, off-beat humor regarding culture (perceptions of black people in the business, of course, but also bits involving hippies, and old-time Hollywood people), and part of the fun comes in the actors and how they handle the attitude. The introduction of Melvin's security/boom-mic operator is one of those scenes. There's also great details revealed about the production itself, like the unresolved fate of a handgun on the set, or how a car-fire is dealt with and incorporated with a lot of calculated risk. Actually, everything Peebles took on with his film was a risk, and his son follows suit by not making it an exact dramatization either. Like Reds, he intersperses the narrative with 'interviews' with those involved, but with the actors playing the real-life characters, and then putting in Ossie Davis in the interviews not as Melvin (played by Mario's) father, but as Ossie Davis.
If this sounds confusing, it really isn't. Peebles, the director/star here, handles this with a very smart handling of character in relation to the others underneath him, in how he sort of goes into a downward spiral as money runs out and he loses sight in an eye, and even how he can't distinguish between himself and his "Sweetback" persona. Peebles also implements a visual style that is a little crazy as well, but with a wam-bam sense of what works as opposed to what's done in a rush (ala the original Sweetback itself). And like Ed Wood, one sees how a filmmaker can get what he wants if he pushes his own conscience out of the way, even as things comically crumble around him- the difference here being that Melvin Van Peebles has at least some level of talent to go with his immense ambitions. There's also fine supporting work by Rainn Wilson as Peebles's hippie producer, David Alan Grier as the assistant director, Nia Long as Peebles's long suffering girlfriend, and Saul Rubinek as his agent. Peebles himself is also a very fine actor here, if a little self-conscious of his own father's ups and downs to portray.
Loaded with self-importance that doesn't feel pushy, laughs that come out of genuine characterizations and dialog, and a sweet message to boot, this is one of the best films about what Truffaut called the joy and/or horror of a director making a film.
Peebles has more resources technically than his father did, but there's more than that that makes Baadasssss! such a awesomely cool examination of a headstrong, half-crazy half-brilliant filmmaker and production story. There's a wonderful mix of abrasive, off-beat humor regarding culture (perceptions of black people in the business, of course, but also bits involving hippies, and old-time Hollywood people), and part of the fun comes in the actors and how they handle the attitude. The introduction of Melvin's security/boom-mic operator is one of those scenes. There's also great details revealed about the production itself, like the unresolved fate of a handgun on the set, or how a car-fire is dealt with and incorporated with a lot of calculated risk. Actually, everything Peebles took on with his film was a risk, and his son follows suit by not making it an exact dramatization either. Like Reds, he intersperses the narrative with 'interviews' with those involved, but with the actors playing the real-life characters, and then putting in Ossie Davis in the interviews not as Melvin (played by Mario's) father, but as Ossie Davis.
If this sounds confusing, it really isn't. Peebles, the director/star here, handles this with a very smart handling of character in relation to the others underneath him, in how he sort of goes into a downward spiral as money runs out and he loses sight in an eye, and even how he can't distinguish between himself and his "Sweetback" persona. Peebles also implements a visual style that is a little crazy as well, but with a wam-bam sense of what works as opposed to what's done in a rush (ala the original Sweetback itself). And like Ed Wood, one sees how a filmmaker can get what he wants if he pushes his own conscience out of the way, even as things comically crumble around him- the difference here being that Melvin Van Peebles has at least some level of talent to go with his immense ambitions. There's also fine supporting work by Rainn Wilson as Peebles's hippie producer, David Alan Grier as the assistant director, Nia Long as Peebles's long suffering girlfriend, and Saul Rubinek as his agent. Peebles himself is also a very fine actor here, if a little self-conscious of his own father's ups and downs to portray.
Loaded with self-importance that doesn't feel pushy, laughs that come out of genuine characterizations and dialog, and a sweet message to boot, this is one of the best films about what Truffaut called the joy and/or horror of a director making a film.