I was going to do Grease & Judas and the Black Messiah as a double blog post as I saw them both in the same day. Swiftly changed my mind after seeing this film. It would trivialise what this film is, which is a great and serious drama/great serious drama/seriously great drama. Sorry Grease but I’m keeping you well away from the real sh*t.
Absolutely love the title of the film, first off. Hits the nail on the head and is bloody cool to boot.
We live the story through the perspective of William O’Neal, played by Lakeith Stanfield (lets hear it for Lakeith, wooo!). O’Neal gets himself pressured into the Black Panther Party (BPP) as an informant for the FBI with the goal of getting enough info to bring down the ‘threat’ of Chairman Fred Hampton, played by Daniel Kaluuya (lets hear it for Kaluuya YEAH WOOOOO!!!!).
I put ‘threat’ in inverted commas, and had I been speaking aloud I would have said it slightly louder, to indicate sarcasm. Another effective literary technique. He is a threat to their racist agenda, a threat to their comfortable control, a threat to their stronghold on public opinion. He is the Black Messiah, a freedom fighter hero. Kaluuya turns on the charisma and pulls you into his tractor beam stare. Fall under his eyes or his words and you are locked in. He’s electric and for me was the driving force for this film.
William O’Neal is the Judas to Hampton’s Messiah. What’s interesting is that as the film goes on, we’re not sure if he is genuinely turning his allegiance to Hampton and the BPP or just faking it very well. That keeps this film moving and shifting whilst holding our interest, I genuinely did not know what was going to happen from one scene to the next. Completely unpredictable…unless you knew the story already in which case probably quite predictable. Which leads me to a contemporary issue the film raised for me.
I did not know this story. But why not?!? It highlights a gap in what we are taught. I have a huge problem with curricula choices in schools and what subjects are prioritised. The fact that stories such as this are left out just continues the attempted concealing of mistakes and atrocities made by government bodies. I went into the film having zero knowledge of this story, all I was aware of was that the Black Panthers were a black power political movement. That’s where my knowledge ended. Reading about the history after the film really fleshed out the drama and increased its impact. The real-life Hampton and O’Neal were young, very young, when this film is set, and that’s not reflected by the actors. It hits you on another level when you realise that perspective.
Jesse Plemons is dynamite as a slithering FBI agent, as I expected he would be. Poor bloke’s getting typecast as a wrong’n, but he just does it so well!! Every police presence in this movie is a reeking pig of a man. Police are put forward not as a guardians of people but as a hateful, corrupt authority. They embody manipulation of the weak and hatred of the strong. Needless to say this film is timely and it’s story holds great relevance. The evil cunning employed by those that we are taught to respect is genuinely sickening. That’s my angry bit over, kept it brief.
I thought the (very badly scored) love story thread was a little slow and dragging, but it validates itself on the whole and adds emotional depth to a politically driven film. Director Shaka King’s has created a drama that balances political movements with human feeling.
As with Sound of Metal, I’ve spent as much time watching interviews and researching the film’s themes as i have watching the film itself. A film you take home with you is a good film, in my book.
Quick word on the aesthetics; tasty muted colour palette, snazzy vintage cars and even snazzier costume design. It looks real good.
For those who like historical drama (and just straight up drama) this is a winner. Assumedly most reading this will be like me and not have come across this story before. Hopefully this is a sufficient cliffhanger to whet your whistle and go and see it.
