Black Is... Black Ain't

1994

Documentary

4
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 100% · 5 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 87%
IMDb Rating 7.7/10 10 496 496

black lgbt creole african american black intellectual black identity

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Plot summary

African-American documentary filmmaker Marlon Riggs was working on this final film as he died from AIDS-related complications in 1994; he addresses the camera from his hospital bed in several scenes. The film directly addresses sexism and homophobia within the black community, with snippets of misogynistic and anti-gay slurs from popular hip-hop songs juxtaposed with interviews with African-American intellectuals and political theorists, including Cornel West, bell hooks and Angela Davis.

Director

Marlon Riggs Photo
Marlon Riggs

Top cast

Bill T. Jones Photo
Bill T. Jones as Self
bell hooks Photo
bell hooks as Self
Angela Davis Photo
Angela Davis as Self
Cornel West Photo
Cornel West as Self
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
811.11 MB
968*720
English 2.0
Not Rated
Subtitles us  
59.94 fps
1 hr 27 min
Seeds ...
1.47 GB
1440*1072
English 2.0
Not Rated
Subtitles us  
59.94 fps
1 hr 27 min
Seeds 5

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by R T 10 / 10

(from The Watermark 06/10/95) Racial issues are tackled

(from The Watermark 06/10/95) Racial issues are tackled to great effect in Black Is...Black Ain't by gay director/producer Marlon Riggs. A glimpse into the paradoxical definitions of “blackness” to be found within the black community, Riggs begins by showing his own mother making her famous gumbo, and keeps returning periodically to the image of the stew, reinforcing the many different ingredients of which the black community is made. Riggs’ meticulous exploration is fascinating as it looks at the community’s perceptions of Black vs. African-American, religion, patriarchy, feminism, sexuality, language, and gender issues (to name a few), yet the film is never uninteresting or exhaustive. Information is presented through interviews with various black subjects: family members, strangers, educators, professionals, homosexuals, artists, ministers, pre-school children, and high-school dropout gang members. Riggs isn’t afraid to get artistic with his work, interspersing gospel, blues, and R & B music, poetry, interpretive dance, famous quotations, and the flashing of words on the screen to reinforce particular points he is trying to make. The most touching aspect of the film is how it follows Riggs' own declining health as he gradually succumbs to AIDS. Therein lies Riggs' true statement: that as his own body is killing him, the internal conflicts within the black community are preventing it from finding its true freedom. Parallels to the gay community abound, and the film enlightens both informationally and spiritually. Riggs died before the completion of the film, but it was finished according to his wishes and now stands out as a beautiful legacy to this gifted artist.
Reviewed by R T 10 / 10

A film everyone should watch especially if you're

A film everyone should watch especially if you're Black, an ethnic minority, an ignorant racial majority, or anyone generally interested in the stability of American racial identities today.
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