The film follows a man who goes on the run after saving a young Black Panther member as he walks, fights, and fucks throughout the city of Los Angeles as a corrupt and racist police commissioner wants him dead. It is a film with a simple premise though it is presented in an offbeat narrative as Melvin Van Peebles creates a script that plays into the real-life tension between African-Americans and the LAPD in the 1960s and 1970s. Notably as it involves this man known as Sweetback (Melvin Van Peebles) who is a sex performer at a whore house as he is asked by his boss to accompany a couple of LAPD detectives as a prisoner over a murder charge as a favor for the boss. Yet, things go wrong when they arrest a young Black Panther member in Mu-Mu (Hubert Scales) and beat him until Sweetback uses the handcuffs and assault the detectives to a near-unconscious state. It then leads to Sweetback going on the run where he gains some unlikely allies as well as the ire of the LAPD and other evil authorities.
Van Peebles’ direction is stylish as it is shot on location in Los Angeles and areas in the Mojave Desert for the film’s third act. Using different film stocks ranging from 16mm and 35mm, Van Peebles would use wide and medium shots to play into Sweetback’s journey through Los Angeles day and night as he would run to different locations and hide from the police. Van Peebles also maintains some sense of danger in shooting on location as he aims for a guerilla style of filmmaking to shoot as if everything that is happening is real. Notably in some of the film’s sex scenes where a lot of it is unsimulated to maintain that air of realism in the film. Most particularly a scene in the film’s opening where a young Sweetback (Mario Van Peebles) finds himself in a room where he would have sex with a prostitute as it would play into how he got the name. The scene is controversial considering that Mario was only 13 when he filmed that sex scene as Van Peebles’ approach to the sex is not too explicit as that lone scene is the only simulated sex scene, but it is still daring in the raw presentation of it.
Also serving as the film’s editor, Van Peebles infuses a lot of editing styles ranging from jump-cuts, layered dissolves, and montages to play into the action as well as the suspense that looms throughout the film. Even as the violence is restrained to play into the film’s low budget aesthetics with Van Peebles also doing his own stunts in some of the action scenes. Van Peebles’ usage of close-ups add to the sense of struggle and determination that Sweetback endures while it also play into some chilling moments of realism during the road towards the Mexican border in its third act. Even in scenes towards the end where there are some eerie imageries as it plays into Sweetback’s struggles though its ending is a message of empowerment during a tense time in American history. Overall, Van Peebles crafts a riveting and intense film about a man running and defying the law after saving a young Black Panther leader.
Cinematographers Bob Maxwell and Jose Garcia do brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with the usage of grainy 16mm film stock for some scenes to maintain the film’s gritty look as well as the usage of available and stylish lighting for some scenes set at night. Makeup artist Nora Maxwell does wonderful work with the makeup in the look of some of the characters including those who get assaulted during the film. The special effects of Cliff Wenger is terrific for some of the color schemes and decayed footage used in some of the surrealistic montages in the film. Sound editors John Newman and Luke Wolfram do superb work with the sound in capturing everything recorded on location as well as some sound collages to play into the action. The film’s music by Melvin Van Peebles and Earth, Wind, & Fire is incredible for its usage of soul and funk to play into the action and energy of the film as it also feature some gospel-inspired songs that are played every now and then as it is a highlight of the film.
The film’s amazing ensemble cast feature some notable small roles from Max Van Peebles as a young Sweetback in the film’s first scene, Mario Van Peebles as the teenage Sweetback who would lose his virginity to a prostitute, Megan Van Peebles as a kid who would try to get a cop for money to clean the windshield, John Amos as a biker who would help Sweetback and Mu-Mu in the middle of the film, Rhetta Hughes as a former girlfriend of Sweetback as she is a singer questioned by the police, and Lavelle Roby as Sweetback’s mother who is asked by the police where she reveals his real name. Hubert Scales is terrific as a young Black Panther leader in Mu-Mu who gets arrested and assaulted by a couple of police detectives early in the film as he would later join Sweetback on the run for a time. Simon Chuckster is excellent as Sweetback’s boss Beetle who would put Sweetback into a bad situation to appease the police officers only to do what he can to help Sweetback evade the police officers.
John Dullagan is superb as the racist police commissioner who is trying to defuse the situation even though he says some racist shit in front of his staff that included a couple of African American officials. Finally, there’s Melvin Van Peebles in a phenomenal performance as Sweetback as a sex performer who finds himself on the run after saving a young Black Panther leader from the police. Van Peebles says little in the film in terms of dialogue, but he does maintain this strong physicality as a man that refuses to take shit from anyone. Even as he deals with all sorts of situations and the environment he would encounter as it is an iconic performance from Van Peebles.
Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song is a tremendous film by Melvin Van Peebles. Along with its gritty visuals, engaging music soundtrack, low-budget aesthetics, and its story of defiance during a tumultuous era of racism in Los Angeles. It is a film that plays into the idea of African-American pride during the post-Civil Rights period where a man does what he can to save another man from death. In the end, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song is a spectacular film by Melvin Van Peebles.
Related: (BAADASSSSS!)
Melvin Van Peebles Films: (The Story of a Three-Day Pass) – (Watermelon Man) – (Don’t Play Us Cheap) – (Identity Crisis) – (Tales of Erotica-Vroom Vroom Vroooom) – (Gang in Blue) – (Bellyful) – (Confessionsofa Ex-Dufus-ItchyFooted Mutha)
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Directed by Michael Mann and screenplay by Mann, Eric Roth, Stephen J. Rivele, and Christopher Wilkinson from a story by Gregory Allen Howard, Ali is the story of 10 years in the life of the boxer Muhammad Ali from his first world title win in 1964 to the Rumble in the Jungle against George Foreman in Zaire in 1974. The film is a look into a moment in time when Ali changed his name from Cassius Clay Jr. and the moments in his life that would make him an icon as he is portrayed by Will Smith. Also starring Jamie Foxx, Mario Van Peebles, Ron Silver, Jeffrey Wright, Jada Pinkett Smith, James Toney, and Jon Voight as Howard Cosell. Ali is a majestic and evocative film from Michael Mann.
The film is about a decade in the life of one of the most iconic figures in sports during the 20th Century in Muhammad Ali from his first title win against Sonny Liston in February 25, 1964 to the Rumble in the Jungle in Kinshasa, Zaire on October 30, 1974. During this time, Ali would convert to Islam and change his name from Cassius Clay Jr. to Ali while enduring all sorts of events in that time such as refusing to serve the U.S. army during the Vietnam War, failed marriages, and losing his first fight to Joe Frazier in the Fight of the Century on March 8, 1971. The film is really an exploration of a man trying to adopt this new identity having dropped his birth name which he felt had been given to him and his family by slave masters and take on something new. The film’s script play into these events that include his friendship with Malcolm X (Mario Van Peebles) and how it ended due to the interference of Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad (Albert Hall).
His devotion to the Nation of Islam would also alienate his family and play part into the decisions of his career as one of his wives in Belinda Boyd/Khalilah Ali (Nona Gaye) doesn’t think the Nation of Islam, Elijah’s son Herbert (Barry Shabaka Henley), and Don King (Mykelti T. Williamson) have his best interests. Much of the film’s narrative is straightforward with some subplots involving people that Ali know being followed by a CIA official in Joe Smiley (Ted Levine) as they would believe Ali is a threat to national security as it would also show events behind the scenes such as a meeting between Don King, Herbert Muhammad, and politicians from Europe and Africa wanting to use Ali just as he is considered a messianic figure in Africa.
Michael Mann’s direction is stylish not just for its presentation with its mixture of 35mm film and grainy digital video but also in capturing a period of time when Ali was to ascend into this iconic status that would make him a polarizing figure in the world. Shot on various locations in the U.S. such as New York City, Chicago, and Miami and Mozambique as Zaire and Ghana. Mann displays a somewhat documentary-style much of his direction as it play into this world that Ali would encounter from his visits to Africa as well as struggling with the events in America around him. There are usage of wide shots of the locations as well as the venues where Ali would have his fights while he aims mainly for some intimate usage of close-ups that play into Ali’s emotions as well as aspects of his personal life that is also presented in medium shots. The usage of the grainy digital video for an opening scene of Ali jogging in Los Angeles as well as him looking at a riot as well as a love scene with a future wife in Sonji Roi (Jada Pinkett Smith).
The fight scenes are among the major highlights of the film with its usage of hand-held cameras as well as point-of-view shots of what the fighter is facing inside the ring and the punches he would get from his opponent. It’s an element of realism that isn’t seen often in films relating to boxing as well as Mann’s direction gets very close into the brutality of boxing. Even as it show Ali as someone trying to mock his opponents as well as fight them with an intelligence and showmanship. Mann’s direction also play into the reaction of the people as well as showing lots of attention to detail in the direction of the people in Ali’s corner observing what Ali is doing. It’s Mann playing into a world where men fought to become the best and for a man like Ali to use boxing as a platform for hope and change. Overall, Mann crafts a riveting and intoxicating film about a decade in the life of Muhammad Ali.
Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki does incredible work with the film’s photography as it’s a highlight of the film with its usage of naturalistic and slightly-tinted colors and moods in the lighting as well as the grainy look of the digital video footage as well as the way the camera moves. Editors William Goldenberg, Lynzee Klingman, Stephen E. Rivkin, and Stuart Waks do excellent work with the editing as its usage of jump-cuts, slow-motion shots, and other stylish editing play into the drama as well as the thrill of the fights. Production designer John Myhre, with set decorator Jim Erickson plus art directors Jonathan Lee, Bill Rea, and Tomas Voth, does brilliant work with the sets from the hotel rooms that and homes that Ali lived in to the design of some of the venues and rings that Ali would fight in. Costume designer Marlene Stewart does amazing work with the costumes from the clothes that men wore in those times as well as the stylish dresses and Muslim garb the women would wear.
Special makeup effects artists Greg Cannom and Christopher Allen Nelson do fantastic work with the look of Howard Cosell as well as some of the prosthetics and hair for some of the characters. Special effects supervisors Alan Poole and Max Poolman, with visual effects supervisor Michael J. McAlister, do terrific work with some of the film’s minimal visual effects as it is mainly set-dressing but also in parts that relate to the fights. Sound editors Yann Delpuech, Darren King, and Gregory King do superb work with the sound in how punches are thrown as well as the atmosphere of the audiences during the fights as well as some sounds in some of the locations. The film’s music by Pieter Bourke and Lisa Gerrard is wonderful for its minimalist and ambient-based score with its usage of polyrhythms and other world beat musical textures while the music soundtrack feature a lot of the music of the times from the Pointer Sisters, Sam Cooke, Bobby Womack, Aretha Franklin, and Bob Dylan plus contemporary pieces from Alicia Keys and Moby.
The casting by Victoria Thomas is great as it feature some notable small roles from Victoria Dillard as Malcolm X’s wife Betty Shabazz, Malick Bowens as Zaire’s president Joseph Mobutu, David Elliott as singer Sam Cooke in the film’s opening credits scene, Shari Watson/Truth Hurts as a club singer, Ted Levine as CIA agent Joe Smiley, Leon Robinson as a Nation of Islam official in Brother Joe, David Haynes as Ali’s brother Rudy Clay/Rahman Ali, Robert Sale as boxer Jerry Quarry, Candy Ann Brown as Ali’s mother Odessa Clay, Michael Bentt as Sonny Liston, David Cubitt as journalist Robert Lipsyte, Charles Shufford as George Foreman, LeVar Burton as Martin Luther King Jr., Bruce McGill as a European political figure, Joe Morton as Ali’s attorney Chauncey Eskridge, Giancarlo Esposito as Ali’s father Cassius Clay Sr., Barry Shabaka Henley as Herbert Muhammad, and Albert Brown as Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad,
Other noteworthy small roles from Nona Gaye as Ali’s second wife Belinda Boyd/Khalilah Ali who is concerned about the people Ali is with, Paul Rodriguez as Ali’s ring physician Dr. Ferdie Pacheco, and Michael Michele as Ali’s future third wife in journalist Veronica Porche whom he would meet in Zaire are wonderful in their brief roles as is Jada Pinkett Smith in a terrific performance as Ali’s first wife Sonji Roi as a woman who many in the Nation of Islam felt was unsuitable for him. James Toney and Mykelti T. Williamson are superb in their respective roles as the fighter Joe Frazier who offers Ali a shot at the title and the infamous promoter Don King who is trying to hype up the event and make a lot of money. Jeffrey Wright is fantastic as photographer Howard Bingham who would be Ali’s biographer and personal photographer who would follow Ali as well as be an observer to the events in Ali’s life.
Ron Silver is excellent as Angelo Dundee as Ali’s trainer who is focused on what Ali is doing in the ring as well as ensure that Ali has a good strategy for every fight as he’s like a father figure to Ali. Mario Van Peebles is brilliant as Malcolm X as the famed civil rights leader and Nation of Islam speaker who is a close friend of Ali as he would later go on his own path where he tries to maintain his friendship with Ali. Jamie Foxx is amazing as Drew Bundini Brown as Ali’s longtime assistant/cornerman who would help Ali come up with his famous rhymes as well as be someone that Ali can trust with on personal matters or on business matters despite his own personal issues. Jon Voight is incredible as famed sports reporter Howard Cosell as Voight would get Cosell’s famous voice right on as well as be the man trying to get answers from Ali as well as be a close friend of the boxer. Finally, there’s Will Smith in a phenomenal performance as Muhammad Ali as he channels the man’s bombastic personality in the press conferences as well as the man’s public persona as being cocky but also a man who can talk the talk and walk the walk but also display the humanity in Ali as a man struggling with his identity and the persona he has created for himself.
Ali is a sensational film from Michael Mann that features a career-defining performance from Will Smith as the legendary boxer. Along with its ensemble cast, Emmanuel Lubezki’s gorgeous cinematography, rapturous music soundtrack, and its exploration about a decade in the life of Muhammad Ali. It’s a film that doesn’t play by the rules of the bio-pic as it focuses on key events of the man’s life as well as the world around him. In the end, Ali is a spectacular film from Michael Mann.
Michael Mann Films: The Jericho Mile – Thief - The Keep – Manhunter - L.A. Takedown – The Last of the Mohicans (1992 film) - Heat – The Insider – Collateral – Miami Vice – Public Enemies - Blackhat - Blackhat - Ferrari - (Heat 2) - The Auteurs #73: Michael Mann Pt.1 - Pt. 2
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