|
America
Beyond the
Color Line |
|
|
|
|
|
| . |
. |
| Starring: Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Directed by: Dan Percival, Mary Crisp |
Original Broadcast Date: 2003
DVD Release: 2005
Released by: PBS Home VideoDolby
Digital 2.0 stereo
Widescreen |
| Jack Johnson -- Fighting the Color
Line Jack Johnson was a towering figure --
physically and culturally. He was the first black Heavyweight Champion of the World and a
black man who lived steadfastly by his own rules during a time in American history when
other men of his race were lynched for the same behavior. His athletic prowess brought him
great wealth, which fueled a frenetic lifestyle that often kept those close to him at
arm's length, making them more friendly acquaintances than intimates. Unforgivable
Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (****) is a comprehensive view of
Johnson's life and times, from his days as a young brawler who hungrily sought the title
from the white fighters who held it, to his time as the seemingly invincible champ, when
scores of Great White Hopes were sent his way for a beating, to when his own government
tried to batter him because no white fighter could. Director Ken Burns knows this era in
American sport and life well from his multi-part movies on jazz and baseball. Unforgivable
Blackness is standard Burns fare: period photos, early movies and interviews with
experts are combined to create a portrait of Johnson that is compelling because of its
extreme authenticity and detail. The widescreen image is very good, and the special
features of this two-disc set include deleted scenes, a making-of featurette and a Wynton
Marsalis music video.
...Marc Mickelson
marc@hometheatersound.com |
|
|
America Beyond the Color Line is divided into four
parts, with separate segments on the black re-migration to the South, black urban life,
blacks in positions of power, and blacks in Hollywood. Writer, producer and narrator Henry
Louis Gates, Jr., who is Chair of the Afro-American Studies department at Harvard,
interviews many important African-Americans, not only to present their views on their race
but also to share their stories of struggle and success. Life in housing projects is still
awful, even amidst attempts to make it better, but the US Army, in its quest for
excellence, has become a model of racial integration and equality. The growing rift in
economic status in the black community and Hollywood's conflict with darker shades of skin
are discussed, with the idea of leaving no significant area of contemporary life untouched
as the goal.
The amount of intelligent commentary in this documentary is
staggering. Interviews with Colin Powell and Jesse Jackson are expected, but others, with
those who live in poverty in South Chicago or work in Hollywood, round out this rich film.
If America Beyond the Color Line was nothing but a collection of video interviews,
it would be worthwhile. But Gates takes viewers with him on a journey through black
America in search of the truth, good or bad, about the state of African-American society
today.
The video image of this DVD is stunningly vivid -- one of
the very best I have seen. America Beyond the Color Line is presented in widescreen
format, which enhances its film-like look. The DVD's lone special feature is an interview
with Professor Gates, in which we get to hear what he thinks about current-day America, as
though he was one of the people interviewed for his documentary. It is just what you will
want to see after watching the entire movie, as he is a thoughtful and engaging fellow.
America Beyond the Color Line takes its title from a
W.E.B. Dubois quote: "The problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color
line." As Gates points out, "The problem of the 21st century is the problem of
the color line as color is fractured or compounded by class." Through his travels,
Gates discusses some solutions, which include successful blacks mentoring and becoming
role models, but America Beyond the Color Line is not specifically about problems
and solutions. Instead, it is a perceptive view of an America in which some of its people,
for reasons old and new, still struggle because of the color of their skin. |
