‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’

One of the series of plays written by the August Wilson about the African-American experience, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” has been turned into a film by producer Denzel Washington, director George C. Wolfe and screenwriter Ruben Santiago-Hudson.

The film has the feeling of being adapted from a play – it takes place in essentially two sets – but that doesn’t prevent a compelling storyline culminating into a searing conclusion.

Based on the real life “Mother of the Blues,” the story is at at a recording session in Chicago in 1927. Ma Rainey (Viola Davis) has arrived with her nephew and girlfriend to meet her band and record new records.  Ma understands the racial relationship and the commercial demands that surround this recording session and she is determined to do things in the manner she sees fit.

Her band is composed of four musicians: a pianist, bass player, trombonist and trumpeter. While they are all talented players, the trumpet player Levee (Chadwick Boseman) is ambitious and seeks not only to change the arrangements for the session, but also strike out on his own with his own band and original songs.  

This creates considerable tension between him and the other band members but also with Ma. She wants things done her way as her success as both a live performer and as well as recording artist affirms her decisions.

This is not a comfortable film to watch. It’s not meant to be. It’s a movie designed to underscore the racial imbalance that exists, as this year affirmed, to this day.

Despite the somewhat claustrophobic nature of a play turned into a film, the director uses a moving camera well to achieve a movie feel.

The performances are heartbreaking and moving. Davis is one of the best actors of this era and she is a force of nature as Ma. Although she seems demanding, it is only because she has to be when dealing with her ineffective white manager and the owner of the recording studio.

Boseman’s Levee is a man of talent and confidence. That confidence is a reaction to some terrible events in his life. Once again the skill of the late actor is on display. Boseman, who died from cancer, showed also that he was one of the best actors of his generation.

This is a film that will leave you thinking.

‘The Midnight Sky’

Director and Star George Clooney’s latest film is a thoughtful story that takes two huge events – the end of the world as we know it and the mission to travel to a planet that earthlings could inhabit – and brings them both down from the epic level to the human one.

Clooney plays Augustine Lofthouse, a scientist who believes a moon of Jupiter can sustain human life. Lofthouse has convinced enough people over his career that a mission to that moon to confirm his theory is undertaken and now the ship with its crew is heading back to Earth.

There is a problem though. In the two-year period the astronauts have been gone, something has happened here and radiation has killed much of the planet’s inhabitants. Lofthouse, who is alone at a research facility in the Arctic, is determined to contact the ship and warn them of what has happened.

In many science fiction films, there are scenes in which the story elements are explained. This is not the case here and it’s a wise experience. All we know the Earth is gone and Lofthouse is hoping to save the crew from death.

The film is somber but moving. It has moments that have an effect of an adventure story, as Lofthouse makes the dangerous trip to another facility in order to contract the crew.

Clooney’s performances is understated and measured. In flashbacks, his character is seen as someone who has issues with committing to a person and now he is committed to trying to save the lives of a handful of humans.

The revelation at the end of the film apparently has bothered some critics but I thought that while it might border on the cliché, it seemed to strike the right note with the tone Clooney had struck.

A solid science fiction film with a human story, “The Midnight Sky” impressed me.