On Tuesday, February 2nd The Critics Choice Association hosted the 3rd Annual Celebration of Black Cinema, via a virtual ceremony, to honor 10 visionary films and 15 actors, producers, and directors of the season.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Thereβs a moment in βMa Raineyβs Black Bottom,β the August Wilson play adapted for the screen starting Dec 18th on Netflix, when the tension between characters Levee (Chadwick Boseman) and Cutler (Colman Domingo) grows so thick youβll want to hold your breath. Theyβre fighting about God, about America and their own humanity, when Boseman delivers lines that cut you to the bone, sentiments so connected to my thinking I almost leapt from my body.Β
The camera jumps to Cutler, aghast and awash in a mix of fury, hopelessness and guilt. This scene is one of the finest Iβve ever seen. The danger is presented so insidiously, a textual snake in the grass waiting to sink venom in you.
βThat scene does bring up a lot of things that we may feel, personally. Those fears that we may have, and what godβs will is,β said Domingo.
TheΒ Fear of the Walking DeadΒ star is an absolute standout in a film teeming with brilliant performances. Translating art from stage to screen is notoriously difficult, but what works so great here is the deft camera work executed under the tutelage of broadway legend George C. Wolfe, and the thousand watt talents of this cast.
If anyone is up to the challenge, itβs Domingo, an adventurous spirit who got his start in theater, and has brought an ineffable fire and grace to every role, a commitment and love that are as admirable as they are aspirational.
βYou canβt come halfway with Viola and Chad and Michael and Glynn, you gotta bring your whole A-game,β he said.
The cast was fully aware not only of the gravity of performing the work of the worldβs most-celebrated Black playwright, but also of the gravity of Chadwickβs performance.
βIβm sure thereβs a piece of me and a piece of Chad in there. So thatβs why it was soβ¦painful. It was painful. But we had to give it our all, cause thatβs what the work requires,β he said.
Viola Davis is nothing short of staggering as Ma Rainey, a gay blues singer in 1927 who speaks her mind and lets her evocative voice fill in the rest. Watching her work isnβt just impressive, itβs a joy. It imbues in you words that are always hard to find, allows you to feel the humanity and self-love thatβs just out of reach.
Another gobsmacking scene is between Rainey and Cutler, with the former finally feeling comfortable after spending much of the film in conflict.Β Β Sheβs talking to Cutler about how the blues is more than just catharsis; itβs a roadmap.
βYou donβt sing to feel better. You sing cause thatβs a way of understanding life,β says Rainey.
I told Domingo I had a knee-jerk reaction to Maβs brusque energy, a self-flagellating urge to tell her to shrink herself for the sake of getting through the session. Domingo addressed it with the artful forthrightness he brings to his roles:
βI think immediately people look at her as a trope of being angry, like sheβs gonna be a destructive Black woman,β he said.
βBut in actuality, as the film goes on, you see how itβs justified. Sheβs basically just saying I want my worth and thatβs it. And it takes the Maβs of the world to make change.β
Letβs all bring some Ma into this next year, cause itβs gonna be tough. Sing the blues, but carry a big stick.
Exclusive: Taylour Paige Discusses Netflix’s ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ [Video]
Denzel Washington teamed up with director George C. Wolfe to turn August Wilsonβs play, “Ma Raineyβs Black Bottom” into a Netflix must see film.