A look at the process that African-American cinema has gone through throughout history: “Is it black enough for you?”
Elvis Mitchell is one of the oldest and most respected film critics in America. Therefore, it was only necessary to embark on a journey examining black cinema from the Middle Ages to the present day. The result is a fascinating and poignant docu that is sometimes not easy to watch, but ends with cautious optimism
The new docu-film “Is it black enough for you?” Seeks to tell the story of black cinema in America, from the silent films to the great boom of black exploitation films in the seventies. The work is full of surprising diagnoses, and many details that the average viewer probably never knew. All of these actually build the viewer up to the climax.
But before he arrives, Mitchell gives a platform to several stars who have played black characters on screen to tell about their experience. Among them you can find Zendaya, Laurence Fishburne, Mario Van Peebles, Ari Belafonte, Samuel L. Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg and more. In between, the film also deals with the influence of Marvin Gaye on the soundtracks of the black films, and of course the famous Western ‘Once upon a time in the West’.
The new docu also provides a glimpse of dozens of important films of the period, even ones that many of us are not at all familiar with. Bottom line, Mitchell seeks to show how white cinema embraced innovations that began in black cinema, without giving credit, of course. But as mentioned, he chooses not to end the film on a pessimistic note.
Thus, to conclude, Mitchell actually returns to one of the most well-known and successful films of black cinema, ‘Killer of Ship’, which became an international success and even entered the list of the 100 greatest films of all time. The film also influenced many other films, including ‘Shutter Island’. And it is undoubtedly a sweet victory to end the film with.
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