Quick weekend viewing tip for NYC Cinephiles - as J Hoberman reported in the Voice this week, Anthology Film Archives is screening a bunch of interesting work by early black film pioneers Oscar Micheaux and Spencer Williams this weekend. If you haven't seen them, do your best to catch Williams Go Down, Death and The Blood of Jesus - they're both marvels of early Black Spiritual Horror, a genre thats never really existed, but ought to (more on that next week). Micheaux's movies are comparatively campy and poorly made. However, Within Our Gates, the first American film to realistically depict the terrorism southern blacks were privy too during much of the 18th-20th centuries, is worth a viewing and Body and Soul, Paul Robeson's screen debut, is as fascinating as it is unconvincing.
Mar 21, 2008
Micheaux/Williams movies at Anthology
Quick weekend viewing tip for NYC Cinephiles - as J Hoberman reported in the Voice this week, Anthology Film Archives is screening a bunch of interesting work by early black film pioneers Oscar Micheaux and Spencer Williams this weekend. If you haven't seen them, do your best to catch Williams Go Down, Death and The Blood of Jesus - they're both marvels of early Black Spiritual Horror, a genre thats never really existed, but ought to (more on that next week). Micheaux's movies are comparatively campy and poorly made. However, Within Our Gates, the first American film to realistically depict the terrorism southern blacks were privy too during much of the 18th-20th centuries, is worth a viewing and Body and Soul, Paul Robeson's screen debut, is as fascinating as it is unconvincing.
