Rodney Evans has created a wondrous little independent film, that sort of film that is born out of insight, devotion, research, and passion for the story. This is a fine work of art on every level from the research, writing and directing by Evans to the consistently superb cast.
The Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s was a period during which African American artists bonded and overcame a doubting world to produce some of the finest work of the past century. Some artists of that period and the years following included Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Wallace Thurman, Bruce Nugent and (stretching the time frame a bit) James Baldwin and Malcolm X. But the driving force of the intelligentsia of Black America was solidified by the first four who managed to be proudly Back, write about the taboo gay aspects of the community, and come together in the Journal FIRE! produced by the brilliant Thurman.
The film opens in contemporary times with Perry (Anthony Mackie) as a young gay artist, disowned by his family for his sexual preference, living in Harlem as a painter while supporting himself by working for a Homeless Shelter. Perry's friend Marcus (Larry Gilliard, Jr) is a poet and a firm supporter of Perry and even is supportive of Perry's involvement with a white young man Jim (Alex Burns) who becomes his mate. Perry thrashes about his homophobic environment, struggling with oppression and artistic block, until he encounters an old man at the Shelter who happens to be Bruce Nugent (Roger Robinson), a giant of a poet from another era.
Nugent informs Perry about the same issues of being black and gay that he had during the Harlem Renaissance and this is done through a series of effective black and white flashbacks where we meet the young Bruce (Duane Boutte), Langston Hughes (Daniel Sunjata), Wallace Thurman (Ray Ford), and Zora Neale Hurston (Aunjanue Ellis) along with clips of the real James Baldwin, Malcolm X etc. It is this circle of continuity, relating historical social problems and artistic successes between the old and the present Harlem, which brings this film such resonance. The bond of brotherhood as personified by Perry and the older Bruce is pure magic, especially as portrayed by Mackie and Robinson.
The DVD includes a wonderfully informative commentary by Rodney Evans which is a stimulus to watch the movie again immediately. The film has message, style, class, and quality that make it one of the finer films about class, gender, and racial dichotomies and how very wasteful those prejudices are. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp
The Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s was a period during which African American artists bonded and overcame a doubting world to produce some of the finest work of the past century. Some artists of that period and the years following included Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Wallace Thurman, Bruce Nugent and (stretching the time frame a bit) James Baldwin and Malcolm X. But the driving force of the intelligentsia of Black America was solidified by the first four who managed to be proudly Back, write about the taboo gay aspects of the community, and come together in the Journal FIRE! produced by the brilliant Thurman.
The film opens in contemporary times with Perry (Anthony Mackie) as a young gay artist, disowned by his family for his sexual preference, living in Harlem as a painter while supporting himself by working for a Homeless Shelter. Perry's friend Marcus (Larry Gilliard, Jr) is a poet and a firm supporter of Perry and even is supportive of Perry's involvement with a white young man Jim (Alex Burns) who becomes his mate. Perry thrashes about his homophobic environment, struggling with oppression and artistic block, until he encounters an old man at the Shelter who happens to be Bruce Nugent (Roger Robinson), a giant of a poet from another era.
Nugent informs Perry about the same issues of being black and gay that he had during the Harlem Renaissance and this is done through a series of effective black and white flashbacks where we meet the young Bruce (Duane Boutte), Langston Hughes (Daniel Sunjata), Wallace Thurman (Ray Ford), and Zora Neale Hurston (Aunjanue Ellis) along with clips of the real James Baldwin, Malcolm X etc. It is this circle of continuity, relating historical social problems and artistic successes between the old and the present Harlem, which brings this film such resonance. The bond of brotherhood as personified by Perry and the older Bruce is pure magic, especially as portrayed by Mackie and Robinson.
The DVD includes a wonderfully informative commentary by Rodney Evans which is a stimulus to watch the movie again immediately. The film has message, style, class, and quality that make it one of the finer films about class, gender, and racial dichotomies and how very wasteful those prejudices are. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp