Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020)

Directed by: George C. Wolfe | 94 minutes | drama, music | Actors: Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Colman Domingo, Glynn Turman, Michael Potts, Jeremy Shamos, Jonny Coyne, Taylour Paige, Dusan Brown, Joshua Harto, Quinn VanAntwerp, Chloe Davis, Mayte Natalio, Johanna Elmina Moise, Onyxx Noel, LaWanda Hopkins , Sierra Stewart, Malaiyka Reid, Catherine Foster

On August 28, 2020, a shock wave went through Hollywood when it became known that actor Chadwick Boseman had died from the effects of colon cancer. He was only allowed to be 43 years old. Boseman had been seriously ill for four years, but only a few people knew that. Between treatments and chemotherapy, he just kept making movies. Boseman broke through relatively late. After some small roles in TV series and modest film productions, he blew friends and foes in 2013 with his portrayal of baseball legend Jackie Robinson in ’42’. Denzel Washington’s protégé (who paid for his acting training because he saw huge potential in the young Boseman) would go on to impress as soul king James Brown in ‘Get On Up’ (2014) and as civil rights lawyer Thurgood Marshall in ‘Marshall’ (2017). ). But most people know him mainly as T’Challa or the black superhero Black Panther from the 2018 Marvel film of the same name. Boseman was already seriously ill during the filming of that film, which makes his achievement all the more impressive, especially in a physical sense. . The last film Boseman made was the Netflix production ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ (2020). Extra wry is that his role as the ambitious trumpeter Levee Green in that film is perhaps his very best.

‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ is based on the play of the same name by August Wilson (1945-2005), which is part of ‘The Pittsburgh Cycle’. This is a series of ten plays about the African-American community focusing on themes such as racism, family and the daily struggles of the poor working class. Each play is set in a different decade of the twentieth century. Denzel Washington already filmed one of Wilson’s plays with “Fences” in 2016 and did so successfully that he struck a deal with HBO to film all ten pieces of “The Pittsburgh Cycle.” Later, Netflix took over that deal and the next play could be made into a movie: ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’, set in the 1920s. It is the only one of the ten pieces set not in Wilson’s hometown of Pittsburgh, but in a sweltering Chicago, where not only the temperature but also the tension soars during a recording session in a music studio. A group of musicians wait in the rehearsal room for the big star, legendary blues singer Ma ‘Mother of the Blues’ Rainey (Viola Davis), to arrive. The fearless and passionate Ma is late and immediately gets into a fight with her white manager Irvin (Jeremy Shamos) and producer Sturdyvant (Jonny Coyne) because she wants to keep control of her music. Meanwhile, the band waits in the increasingly stuffy rehearsal room until they are allowed to show up. Experienced guitarist and trombone player Cutler (Colman Domingo), pianist Toledo (Glynn Turman) and bassist Slow Drag (Michael Potts) are experienced and know their place. However, the young and ambitious trumpet player Levee (Chadwick Boseman) is so cheeky that he tries to seduce Ma’s girlfriend Dussie Mae (Taylour Paige). He is also determined to claim his own place in the music industry. He dreams of starting his own band, has secretly sided with Sturdyvant and is even willing to open old wounds and relive traumas to move forward.

Ma Rainey (1886-1939) was a true music pioneer, she was one of the first black women to record and was loved by both black and white America. She was also progressive in the way she stood up for herself. In Wilson’s play, she refuses to conform too much to what her white manager and record executive want: she’s the boss and Irvin and Sturdyvant have to dance to her tune. Irvin in particular, for whom apparently a lot depends on the success of the recordings, can be treated like a wipe. How ironic that for once the white man is in the service of a black woman! Viola Davis, who earned an Oscar for her role in ‘Fences’, proves once again that she is one of the best actresses of her generation. She gives a powerhouse performance here and does not necessarily make Ma Rainey sympathetic, but she is admirable in her self-confidence, dignity and intransigence. But as good as Davis is, she’s outclassed here by Chadwick Boseman as the tragic Levee. The hot-headed and determined trumpeter is the only one who dares to cross swords with the almighty Ma and has suffered the necessary personal traumas that he shares with his fellow band members and the viewer with raw passion between recording sessions. It is brimming with energy and is stylish and flamboyant. His own, more improvising style of music differs from that of Ma Rainey, but they are just as stubborn in character. Levee would like to get into a good book at Sturdyvant, but on the other hand, he is determined not to be bullied by whites. With his dynamic and breathtaking performance, Boseman shows how the frustrations and anger bubble up in him until the piece comes to a halt with a shocking climax.

There’s no denying that ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ is based on a play, and the atmosphere is intentionally claustrophobic, but director George C. Wolfe (‘Lackawanna Blues’, 2005) manages to create the illusion that there’s a whole world out there. behind the recording studio and rehearsal room. This film pays tribute to music pioneer Ma Rainey and honors her music. But this is above all the film in which acting guns Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman perform at their peak. It is a film with a sour aftertaste: not only because of the fateful final chord, but also because of the realization that we will never see the extremely talented Chadwick Boseman in another film. Perhaps worst of all, this film, set in 1927, is still surprisingly topical over 90 years later because racial tensions, especially in the US, are still the order of the day. ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ is a movie that will not leave you indifferent!