Review: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

 

Hello, Everybody. I just watched Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, a Netflix Original Movie based on August Wilson's play of the same that just came out today. It takes place in the 1920s Chicago in a recording room. As you can see from this poster above, this is the final performance of late actor Chadwick Boseman, who recently passed away on August 29th from a 4-year-battle with colon cancer. This review will also be a dedication to this wonderful actor who left us way too soon. Wakanda Forever, good sir. 

In "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" Boseman plays Levee, an ambitious trumpet player who is determined to stake his own claim in the music industry, his own ambition to start his own band has him solicit the managers and producers and reliving his own previous traumas and spurs truths and lies to his fellow musicians that will forever change their lives. It is directed by George C. Wolfe and the film also stars Viola Davis as the "Mother of the Blues" Ma Rainey, who engages in a battle of wills with her manager(who is white), and producer over control of her music, alongside Taylour Paige, Glynn Turman, Colman Domingo, Dusan Brown, Michael Potts, Jeremy Shamos and Jonny Coyne. 

In the early 80s, August Wilson wrote a collection of plays known as the "Century Cycle", with story being about the African American experience in a different decade. You guys remember reading Fences in High School? Well in case that you didn't know, it was adapted courtesy of director and actor Denzel Washington and Ma Rainey is the second film to be based on one of Wilson's plays. Both films delivered exceptional performances, particularly Davis and Boseman. Viola Davis won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2017 and it seems that her performance as Ma Rainey(with only 20 min. of screen time) will also give her the golden statue, BUT! Let's talk about Chadwick Boseman's best performance of his career, Levee. Before Ma Rainey walks into the recording studio, her band- Toledo, Slow Drag and Cutler- comes in the first bunch of scenes and then Levee comes in with his fresh new pair of shoes. The dynamic and banter between the bandmates feels fresh and realistic with many of them cracking jokes until they get into very deep conversations on racism. It's where Ruben Santiago-Hudson's script really comes through. Everyday, people of color in the entertainment industry are faced with their work getting rigged, ownership over one's art and knowing their worth. Levee seems to always have a glint in his eye, he's very sure that he wants to be a star, but his ambition goes to his head and delivers two heartbreaking and soul-crushing monologues, as he tells the story of when 4 white men came into his house and raped his mother you can see the pain in his eyes and sweat on his skin and another monologue where he holds a shiv and screams at God. 

This... is a great performance of an acting career that ended way too soon and a swan song to one of the greatest acting talents of this generation.

Thank You so much for reading and be sure to comment your thoughts about Ma Rainey and have a happy Holiday. ❤️