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Winter is still in character and we’re appalled after those few days of perfect weather. So, we’re staying warm and building our cinematic repertoire by watching as many Criterion Collection Films that highlight Black people throughout the diaspora for BHM.
Criterion films are recognized for films that have been crafted as an art form more than a disposable piece of content for excitement. Let’s talk about some of our favorite Black History Month Criterion films we’ve checked out so far…. Remember that there are no film aficionados over here, so take our very amateur point of view with a grain of salt. Also, If there’s a free version out there - we’ve tried to link it because the last thing we need is another subscription.
First, let’s get into some classic African cinema…
Touki Bouki (1973)
Martin Scorcese called this a cinematic poem and that’s accurate from our POV. This is a Senegalese film and it’s glorious. Some moments make us cringe and that maybe wouldn’t fly today, but it’s overall, amazing. The movie is a dream-like narrative of a young couple in love who try to do whatever it takes to get to Paris. It’s got a dream-like film in some parts and left us confused but this film was still undeniably worth our time. We found the full film on YouTube, it’s also available on Kanopy which you can access with your library card.
Ceddo (1972)
Ceddo was next on our watchlist and well, it stressed us out. We made it through the first 43 minutes and called it quits. The film is set in pre-colonial Senegal and some of the people have converted to Islam while others are faithful to their original African religion which is causing a schism in this village. A princess has been kidnapped and there’s a fight between taking on a patriarchal society or keeping the matriarchal lineage of for who would be the next king. There’s a lot of dialogue and we’re relying on Closed Captioning for subtitles. The hardest part is seeing Africans trading each other as slaves for as little as a jug of wine. However there’s plenty to learn here and the poetry used in some parts is beautiful, “The wind that breaks the baobab only bends the wheat,” was one that will stick.
Now for some Black American films in the Criterion Collection…
Nothing But A Man (1964)
Now we’re into more familiar territory. The Supremes are on the jukebox and the pastors are complimenting each other on their choirs. This film is recognized by the National Film Registry for being “culturally relevant or aesthetically significant” and we agree on both. The main character, Duff Anderson is a railroad worker who falls in love with a preacher’s daughter in Alabama. He tries to set up a life that sets him on a different trajectory than his father but finds that oppression is facing him at every turn. Can’t lie, we thought this was going to have something to do with the story of John Henry with the title, “Nothing but a Man,” and the railroad beginning, but it is the perfect way to describe this realistic and sometimes unlikable protagonist.
Hollywood Shuffle (1987)
This isn’t the first time we’ve watched Hollywood Shuffle, but it’s been a while and it was on the Criterion list. The film was written, produced, and directed by Robert Townsend and is loosely based on his personal experiences as a Black actor. The film takes a comedic lens to the issues of stereotypes and media portrayal of African Americans. Though some of the stereotypes are wayyyy out of date, some are still an issue today, one in particular that stands out to us is the “talking Black” issue. This is the lightest watch on our list so far.
This last one is more modern but back to foreign films - and the only one that requires a subscription to watch (it’s on Hulu).
This is a legal drama based on the 2016 court case of Fabienne Kabou who, dealing with mental illness, took her 13-month-old daughter to the beach in the middle of the night to drown her by leaving her there to be swept into the tide. She was found dead on the beach the next morning. The writer and director, Alice Diop attended the trial of Kabou while pregnant, herself. The film explores interracial relationships, motherhood, and cultural nuances as Kabou believes she was the victim of sorcery. The film has a score of 98% by critics on Rotten Tomatoes but a viewer score of 55%. By this point, we may have just been burnt out on drama, but we lean more toward the viewer score.
Special Mention:
We didn’t have time to watch everything on our list but we’ll get to it and you can as well with two more that we love and can watch again and again.
Cooley High (1975)
Richard "Cochise" Morris (Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs), a local basketball hero, and Leroy "Preach" Jackson (Glynn Turman), who dreams of a career in writing, are likable Chicago high school students in 1960s Chicago. They're into hanging out with friends, pretty girls and the Motown sounds so popular during the era. Each wants to make it big in his own way, but not everybody they meet is looking out for them, as they learn when a seemingly harmless outing goes awry.
Black Orpheus (1959)
A forever favorite for us, Black Orpheus (Orfeu Negro) was both the Winner of both the Academy Award for best foreign-language film and the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or. The film brings the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice to the twentieth-century madness of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. With its eye-popping photography and ravishing, epochal soundtrack, Black Orpheus was an international cultural event, and it kicked off the bossa nova craze across America shortly after. Turn on the closed captions for subtitles.
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