Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020)

Directed by George C. Wolfe. Starring Chadwick Boseman, Viola Davis, Colman Domingo, Michael Potts, Glynn Turman, Jeremy Shamos, Johnny Coyne, Taylour Paige, Dusan Brown. [R]

Fly-on-the-wall glimpse into a tense Chicago recording session in 1920s Chicago with “Mother of the Blues” Ma Rainey (Davis) and her band, including a bold and enterprising trumpet player (Boseman), quarreling amongst each other and with the white manager and studio owner. Not exactly a biopic of Ma and her big voice and personality—the balance of focus actually falls slightly in Boseman’s favor—and lacking those sorts of historical details and greater context does leave the cloistered cast astray as types more than individuals (or “session talent” more than “headliners”). Though the direction tends to be stagy and unadventurous, Tobias A. Schliessler’s unglamorously-lit photography, along with the makeup application (voluptuous sweat-glistened flesh, eye shadow and lipstick so thick and smeared that it resembles greasepaint, etc.), creates a sweltering environment that only adds to the simmering hostility. A rare example of “tell, don’t show” really working, and a piteous reminder of how talent can be so brazenly exploited by management, especially when it comes to disenfranchised minorities. Boseman’s final film, released posthumously and dedicated in his honor, and his indomitable hustle commands the screen throughout. Adapted by Ruben Santiago-Hudson from an August Wilson play; co-produced by Denzel Washington.

81/100