Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020)

• Year: 2020
• Released: 18 Dec 2020
• Country: United States
• Adwords: Won 2 Oscars. 82 wins & 191 nominations total
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10514222/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ma_raineys_black_bottom
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/ma-raineys-black-bottom
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: R
• Genre: Drama, Music
• Runtime: 94 min
• Writer: Ruben Santiago-Hudson, August Wilson
• Director: George C. Wolfe
• Cast: Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Glynn Turman
• Keywords: lgbt, based on play or musical, singer, chicago, illinois, 1920s,

	6.9/10
	87/100
	97% – Critics
	72% – Audience

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Storyline

Tensions and temperatures rise over the course of an afternoon recording session in 1920s Chicago as a band of musicians await trailblazing performer, the legendary “Mother of the Blues,” Ma Rainey (Academy Award® winner Viola Davis). Late to the session, the fearless, fiery Ma engages in a battle of wills with her white manager and producer over control of her music. As the band waits in the studio’s claustrophobic rehearsal room, ambitious trumpeter Levee (Chadwick Boseman) – who has an eye for Ma’s girlfriend and is determined to stake his own claim on the music industry – spurs his fellow musicians into an eruption of stories revealing truths that will forever change the course of their lives. Adapted from two-time Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson’s play, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM celebrates the transformative power of the blues and the artists who refuse to let society’s prejudices dictate their worth. Directed by George C. Wolfe and adapted for the screen by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, the film is produced by Fences Oscar® nominees Denzel Washington and Todd Black. Colman Domingo, Glynn Turman, Michael Potts, Taylour Paige and Dusan Brown co-star alongside Grammy® winner Branford Marsalis’ score.

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Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Based on August Wilson’s stage play.

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is set in a hothouse atmosphere of a Chicago recording studio on one summer’s day in 1927.

Ma Rainey (Viola Davis) a highly regarded blues singer arrives late to the studio. She makes demands which irritates the white studio executive.

Already at the studio is her backing band which includes the brash overconfident trumpet player Levee (Chadwick Boseman) who constantly clashes with his bandmates.

Levee dreams of writing his own songs and having his own band. He has had some sort of a promise from the same white studio executive about his more modern songs.

The film is stagebound and does not really open up. This was similar to Fences the Wilson play that Denzel Washington directed.

It is a contrast of two characters. The volatile Levee, he has dreams of a brighter future and a tragic past. He describes to his bandmates how his mother was gang raped by some white men. He later upsets them by blaspheming. Levee thinks he can get one up on the white man with his own compositions but he is in for a surprise.

Meanwhile Ma Rainey knows better because of her experiences. She can make demands knowing that she can have her own way until she records her songs and signs a release. After which she loses control until the next time she is needed to record a tune.

There is an undercurrent of tragedy in the screenplay. Levee is man who is lashing out against the world because of his pent up anger. One push too far could send him over the edge.

This was Boseman’s last movie before his untimely death from cancer. He received an Oscar nomination and became a sentimental favourite to win. It was a good performance but to me it was not Oscar worthy.

The reason was because the movie was too much like a filmed stage play. Ultimately the film suffers because of this restraint.

Looking back

I never read the source this was based on. But Denzel Washington (who already used the writer for another movie he made, that he and Viola starred in, she’s back in front of the camera, he’s “just” producing) takes it upon himself to make the works known to a new audience. Some of whom may not be inclined to read (not judging either way).

We get treated to some wonderful performances – especially the late, sorely missed and way too soon taken away from us Chadwick Boseman. There is Buzz about him get at least an Oscar nomination, possibly even a win. Something he is most deserving of and he has proven not just in this movie. As light and fun as he was in interviews, as intense and craftful he is in front of the camera. I said it when I watched the James Brown movie (get on up) he made – that performance was more than worthy of any acting award on this planet! Will he win for this, which is more of an assemble piece? We will see if he gets this recognition even if way too late for my liking.

But back to this and a dark chapter. This is not happy go lucky, this is and depicts racism in many forms. And how some artists back then tried to fight back. Not that they were without flaws (Viola or rather the character she portrays has her own demons to fight with) – clashing here are too hot heads with a past and a present. Both stirred up by other factors, unable to lash out at those factors (mostly drawn and set up by white folk), unleash on each other.

Not something that is fun to watch when it happens, but early on we can see how deep the wounds of Chadwicks character are … literally and figuratively speaking. The amount of work he again put into this – but we had that already and this shall not take anything away from the others involved here … their commitment and their acting is matching his … they had to I guess.

From that standpoint this is superb filmmaking .. the pacing and the tone might not bode well with some though … but this is not here to make friends. It is not here to be light entertainment … it is here to remind everyone, what our past had in store for us, so we won’t make the same mistakes again … hopefully. We are people and none of us is superior to others because of the color of our skin (to be clear, I am talking about racism which obviously was done mainly by white people … and unfortunately under the still residing POTUS is running wild again) …

“Mother of the blues man, Mother of the blues.”

Considering the movie’s title, and Viola Davis’s spirited portrayal of Ma Rainey, it seemed to me that Chadwick Boseman’s portrayal of band member Levee provided the spark and energy for this picture, right up to the tragic circumstance that leads Levee to erupt in anger and seal his doomed fate. In fact, almost all the other musicians in the story appear to have more screen time than the title character, with Cutler (Colman Domingo) and Toledo (Glynn Turman) engaging in meaningful soliloquies that provide resonance to their back stories. Yet Ma Rainey becomes the most forceful presence anytime she’s on screen, making demands of her white manager and producer, and exerting her influence over what songs she sings and in what manner they will be performed. Levee’s insistence on bringing an uptempo vibe to Ma’s traditional back water blues reminds me of the angst Sam Cooke experienced when he was faced with the difficult decision to move from old time spirituals to pop music, thereby making his music more accessible to a wider audience. The most electric scene in my estimation was when Levee called upon Cutler’s god to intervene on his behalf when the young upstart threatened to cut him up. Though that potential tragedy was averted, Levee’s uncontrolled temper got the upper hand in his confrontation with Toledo over the scuffed shoe. His volatile temper and the racial divide that permeated 1920’s America effectively destroyed Levee’s dream of forming his own band, punctuated by producer Sturdyvant’s (Jonny Coyne) denial of his talent, while having a white band and singer perform his written music. Currently streaming on Netflix, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” features solid performances by the principals, and some stunning blues numbers that will whet your appetite for more.