Sweet Sweetback's baadassss song

Duration: 97

Year Published: 1971

Creator: Direct Cinema

Format: 16mm

Color: Color

Sound: sound

Description: Van Peebles' subversive black action film is dedicated to all the black brothers and sisters who have had enough of The Man. The hero, derived in part from black mythology and folklore, is a black male hustler raised in a brothel. Sweetback's transformation from sexual performer to politicized revolutionary occurs when he is falsely arrested by authorities intent on apprehending a suspect in a homicide investigation. While in custody, Sweetback witnesses the beating of a black militant named Moo Moo by detectives. He intervenes, attacks the officers and flees. Sweetback's flight from the police propels him on a nightmarish sojourn through Los Angeles and encounters with the city's marginalized denizens. Sweetback is finally discovered by police at a motorcyclists' hideout where a bloody exchange takes place. Escaping his pursuers, Sweetback crosses the desert finding refuge in Mexico where he vows a vengeful return. The film's defiant stance is underlined by innovative cinematic techniques: unusual camera angles, rapid editing, superimpositions and stop action. (Circulates). Genre/FormFeature films. Action and adventure films.