Customer Reviews

Black White & Red All Over [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is set almost entirely in one inner-city room in Cambridge, MA., where six friends come and go, talk and argue, smoke pot and watch television. There's no conventional plot, but a story emerges: Drug deals and old feuds have created a situation filled with danger, and the film's underlying subject is the self-inflicted genocide of black-on-black crime, which takes a horrible toll among young men. But the film is not a crime film. The six friends, despite the illegal activities of some of them, are not bad people (well, one is). They have been dealt a hand and are playing it as cleverly as they can. They don't dwell on the evils of society or the wrongdoings of whites (indeed, one of them has a white mother), but are entirely absorbed by their own world. It includes a lot of television, and their take on the BET channel is pointed and cynical. It also involves music, philosophizing, sex and the fact of unemployment, and it inlcludes a lot of booze and much pot. Spike Lee often finds unique visual effects for his movies, and this film, directed by DeMane Davis, Harry McCoy and Khari Streeter, has one of its own: a scene viewed entirely from the point of view of a reefer. We get tunnel vision in the center of the screen, which is surrounded by a round red border that glows and fades as the joint is inhaled. This device dramatizes the way that everything in the room -including matters of life and death- is being filtered through smoke. The actors (Thomas Braxton Jr., Lord Harrison, MyQuan, Damian, Rob Florestal and Naomi Ramsey) are very good, inhabiting dialogue that ranges from four-letter ghetto-speak to bright thoughtfulness. And the plot unfolds almost invisibly; by the end of the film, we know why everything is happening even though the preparations were made offhandedly. Distributors at Sundance, where the filmed premiered in Dramatic Competition in 1997, seemed to shy away from the film, maybe fearing it would be over the heads of the action crowd and too Ebonic for the art houses. Yet it's in films like this that discoveries are made.

The story of a group of black twenty somethings brings you into such a realistic dramatization of the death of their close friend that you feel like you are sitting there with them as they reminise, mourn and try to figuire out how to move on with their lives.

I ponder for words to describe this film
For an independant film, they achieve the subliminal message they were trying to send to us. I love the comradirie between the six friends. I even like Grizz, the evil one.Here's my breakdown of the characters (without fully giving away the story)

Ed- The boisterous voice(on the AM) calling from jail.

Hope- He's the shorty who lost his entire family due to violence from the Mandela Street Gangs.

Cairo- He is the working stiff who is very self-righteous at times, but he still has mad love for his friends. He wants to change and escape life on the streets

Herb- Gosh, he was my favorite. The good-looking ,lanky brother with the cutest smile I ever seen. He has dreams of his own of making it to pro basketball. He's enjoying a month away from school. His main objective is to smoke blunts, watch and tape videos, and talk to his idiotic girlfriend Terri.

Dee- is the goofy ass girl/sidekick who likes Cairo. She is wholly self-righteous.She knew what type of guys she was hanging out with. She annoyed me, most of the time. She works with Cairo and I think she liked him more than she let on. She served no real purpose ,except being the sidekick with breasts and a big mouth.

Ren- Skinny little comedian who was Grizz's partner in the drug game. He had me tripping most of the time. I like the facial expressions. He's the class clown

"Grizz"- He is the truth. The ultimate nightmare to the shallow fantasy the friends had build around themselves. He pulled no punches and that brutal honesty is what made him one of my favorite characters. The real paradox here is that Grizz was the best friend that Hope could ever have. He debted the situation before he (Hope) could wake up the next morning.


In conclusion, this story is a paradox and it was a treat to watch friends banter while taking in good green.

On the flipside, the overall message is that violence has become too much to bear. And like those under pressure, they begin to crumble.

I watched about an hour of this movie, and it took place in one room the WHOLE ENTIRE TIME. All they did was talk and smoke pot. It may get better, but in order to hook me, a movie needs to be interesting within the first thirty minutes. Ya'll want a ghetto drama, cop the classic Boyz-N-The-Hood, or Above da Rim. I be out.