The Very Black Show — Wikipédia

Posted on by
before-content-x4

The Very Black Show or Music-hall in Quebec ( Bamboozled ) is an American satirical film by Spike Lee, released in 2000.

after-content-x4

Knowing only a limited exit on American soil, The Very Black Show is a box office failure. He also receives rather mixed criticism. Despite this initial welcome, he later became a cult film, due to his satirical style on stereotypes and the image of blacks in the American audiovisual media [ first ] .

Pierre Delacroix is ​​the only African-American screenwriter of the large CNS television channel ( Continental Network System ). Despite innovative show ideas, Pierre fails to make his place there and find pleasant ideas for his boss, Thomas Dunwitty. The latter is a man using African-American vernacular English and the word “negro” all the time. Married to an African-American, he also prides himself on being more “black” than Pierre. After multiple refusals, Thomas Dunwitty poses an ultimatum: he must find the concept or he will be returned.

At the foot of the wall and exasperated, Pierre then presents a project as cynical as they are crazy. He puts back the day minstrel shows With a parodic varieties program with made-up actors embodying caricatures of African-Americans, the blackfaces . With the help of his Sloan assistant, he recruits Mantan, a bright tap dancer on the street, and his partner Womack. They thus become the stars of Mantan: The New Millennium Minstrel Show .

Against all expectations, the idea is validated by Thomas Dunwitty. The program quickly became successful and even becomes a cultural phenomenon. This sudden and unexpected glory, however, marks the start of stone problems. The latter then does everything to defend the spirit of the show against his detractors. For his part, his boss only thinks of the growing audience.

Icône signalant une information Unless otherwise indicated or complementary, the information mentioned in this section may be confirmed by the IMDB database .

Development [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Very marked by the defense of the African-American community, Spike Lee wanted to show the image of blacks on television:

‘ The Very Black Show came from my reflections on the passage to XXI It is century. I have always been disappointed or downright outraged by the limited representations that we give people of color, and even by the way our history has been completely rewritten. The time seems appropriate to me to think about the media of the next hundred years … at all media, not just television or cinema. This film is both a acerbic satire, an entertainment and an engine of reflection. When I watch the contents of the movies and television of our time, I have the impression that the “Minstrel shows” are still there. Pierre Delacroix’s program is ultimately different from the real current programming only because the actors have black makeup [ 3 ] . »

Distribution of roles [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

These are real rappers, including Mos Def, Canibus, Dj Scratch, Charli Baltimore and Mums Da Schemer, who embody the members of the Mau Maus group. The group The Roots plays the Alabama Porch Monkeys.

Alec Baldwin had to appear in his own role. Finally unavailable, it is replaced by Matthew Modine. A role is also proposed to John Leguizamo, but the actor is taken by the shooting of red Mill [ 4 ] .

Filming [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Most of the film was shot with digital cameras [ 3 ] DV Sony VX 1000, while the scenes of Former show were made in 16 mm.

Bamboozled
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

modifier Consultez la documentation du modèle

The soundtrack of the film is an album made up of Rap and R’n’B songs and marks the start of the career of the singer India.arie. The album contains a song from the Mau Maus group, created for the film and composed of Mos Def, Canibus, Mc Serch, Charli Baltimore, Mums, Gano Grills and Dj Scratch.

Titles
  1. Blak from Blak – 4:42 (Mau Maus : Mos Def, Canibus, MC Serch, Charli Baltimore, Mums, Gano Grills & DJ Scratch)
  2. Misrepresented People – 4:37 (Stevie Wonder)
  3. Hollywood – 5:32 (Erykah Badu)
  4. Just a Song – 4:45 (Goodie Mob)
  5. Slippery Shoes – 3:40 (Angie Stone)
  6. In My Head – 4:40 (India.aria)
  7. Dream with No Love – 5:02 (Gerald delivers)
  8. The Light (remix) – 4:01 (Common & Erykah Badu)
  9. Some Years Ago – 5:01 (Stevie Wonder)
  10. Charlie – 4:10 (Charli Baltimore)
  11. Burned Hollywood Burned – 4:15 (Chuck D, The Roots & Zack de la Rocha)
  12. One Night – 4:24 (professional)
  13. Ploylessness – 1:57 (us)
  14. Shadowlands – 5:10 (Bruce Hornsby)
  15. 2045 Radical Man – 6:36 (Prince)
  16. God in You – 1:21 (India.aria)
  17. Back in the Middle – 1:18 (India.aria)
  18. Strength Courage and Wisdom – 1:35 (India.aria)
  19. Can I Walk with You – 1:05 (India.aria)
  20. Promises – 1:37 (India.aria)

The film receives mixed criticism. On the American aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, he collects 51% of favorable opinions for 103 critics and an average note of 5.52 ⁄ ten [ 6 ] . On Metacritic, he obtained an average note of 54 ⁄ 100 For 39 reviews [ 7 ] .

In France, the film obtains an average note of 3.5 ⁄ 5 on the Allociné site, which lists 16 press titles [ 8 ] .

In the United States, the film knows only a limited outing in theaters (only 17 rooms). There is one thus a failure at the box office harvesting only 2,274,979 $ on American soil [ 9 ] . In France, it only recorded 13,895 entries [ ten ] .

The film then acquires cult film status in the United States [ first ] . In , Entertainment Weekly Integrates in his list of “50 best films that you have not seen” [ 4 ] .

Reward [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Nominations [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

The names of scenes of “Mantan” and “Sleep’n Eat” are inspired respectively by Mantan Moreland and Willie Best (nicknamed “Sleep ‘n’ eat”) [ 4 ] .

  1. ↑ a et b (in) David Fear, ‘ ‘Bamboozled’ is the Forgotten Gem in Spike Lee’s Career » , on Rolling Stone , (consulted the )
  2. ↑ (in) Release info on the Internet Movie Database
  3. ↑ a et b Filming secrets – Allociné
  4. ↑ A B and C (in) Trivia on the Internet Movie Database
  5. ↑ a et b (in) Bamboozled OST – Allmusic.com
  6. ↑ (in) ‘ Bamboozled (2000) » , on Rotten Tomatoes , Fandango Media (consulted the )
  7. ↑ (in) ‘ Bamboozled Reviews » , on Metacritic , CBS Interactive (consulted the )
  8. ↑ ‘ The Very Black Show – Press reviews » , on Allociné (consulted the )
  9. ↑ (in) ‘ Bamboozled » , on Box Office Mojo (consulted the )
  10. ↑ ‘ The Very Black Show » , on JP’s Box-office (consulted the )
  11. ↑ (in) Internet Movie Database – Internet Movie Database

Related articles [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

external links [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

  • Audiovisual resources Voir et modifier les données sur Wikidata:

after-content-x4