Based on the fictional play by August Wilson: in Chicago during the summer of 1927, the legendary real-life blues singer Ma Rainey (Viola Davis) is set up for a recording session prepared by white producers. Among the tensions during the session: the band's very talented trumpeter, Levee Green (Chadwick Boseman) has ambitions of going solo.
The film uses advantages that that are an improvement on the play version. Editing reduces a long scene that involved a young man with a pronounced stutter doing a recorded intro. And two additional scenes (not in the play) add to the film's impact. One involved Ma's late arrival and all the chaos in the journey (in the play, this was only narrated after the arrival); and an extra scene tagged at the end adds to the overall impact regarding the racial tensions referred to in the story.
Another scene that was kept as is was Levee's narration of his family's tragic history and racial victimization. Screenwriter Ruben Santiago-Hudson and director George C. Wolfe were wise to keep this scene as it was without using a flashback device despite the scene's length. Why? Because Boseman was one of those performers who could be riveting even while reading an instruction manual. He is extremely powerful in this scene as he was in another one where he renounces the existence of God. His untimely death shortly before the film's release caused this brilliant performance to be his swan-song. A great loss, indeed.
Davis is also powerful in many scenes as a manipulative diva who knows her worth. She's at her best showing Ma's softer side when elaborating on the existence of the blues.
The dramatic ending might not have been necessary and it also leaves a very depressing feeling. But with so much going for it including costumes, cinematography, and set designs that beautifully recall the 1920s, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" is a standout film. - dbamateurcritic
RATING: 9 out of 10
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT: Acting by Chadwick Boseman.
The film uses advantages that that are an improvement on the play version. Editing reduces a long scene that involved a young man with a pronounced stutter doing a recorded intro. And two additional scenes (not in the play) add to the film's impact. One involved Ma's late arrival and all the chaos in the journey (in the play, this was only narrated after the arrival); and an extra scene tagged at the end adds to the overall impact regarding the racial tensions referred to in the story.
Another scene that was kept as is was Levee's narration of his family's tragic history and racial victimization. Screenwriter Ruben Santiago-Hudson and director George C. Wolfe were wise to keep this scene as it was without using a flashback device despite the scene's length. Why? Because Boseman was one of those performers who could be riveting even while reading an instruction manual. He is extremely powerful in this scene as he was in another one where he renounces the existence of God. His untimely death shortly before the film's release caused this brilliant performance to be his swan-song. A great loss, indeed.
Davis is also powerful in many scenes as a manipulative diva who knows her worth. She's at her best showing Ma's softer side when elaborating on the existence of the blues.
The dramatic ending might not have been necessary and it also leaves a very depressing feeling. But with so much going for it including costumes, cinematography, and set designs that beautifully recall the 1920s, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" is a standout film. - dbamateurcritic
RATING: 9 out of 10
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT: Acting by Chadwick Boseman.