Shaft (1971)
March 10th, 2011 § 3 Comments
The BBC’s Micheal Thomson in a revised review 30 years after his original article writes “‘Shaft’ has long since reached icon status, and is thus deemed to be beyond the reach of criticism.” Besides a moderate grilling from Roger Ebert, Shaft really does seem to live up to Thomson’s statement, as it is nearly impossible to find a harshly criticized review of Shaft. Being one of the breakthrough blaxploitation movies after Melvin van Peebles’ pioneering film Sweet Sweetback’s Baadassss Song, Shaft enjoys widespread critical praise from film critics and filmmakers; and for good reasons.
The movie was memorable for two main reasons. Firstly, it was a film that shattered the conventional movie scene and defied the dominant ideology of the time. Even though Sidney Poitier, the legendary Bahamian/American black actor had won critical acclaim for his roles in anti-establishment movies such as In the Heat of the Night, and Guess Who’s Coming for Dinner a few years prior to the blaxploitation breakthrough for portraying a similar role as Richard Rountree in Shaft, it was Shaft that really shook the foundations of the film industry, and brought new meaning to Black cinema. Rather than being a technical masterpiece, Shaft was significant for its cultural impact; especially given its context in the years following the civil rights movement, the formation of the Black Panther Party, and the death of Martin Luther King Jr. The movie was a story of empowerment, defiance, sheer bravado, and a fresh brand of in-your-face humor that probably rocked the socks offa’ the 70’s.
Secondly, it was the music. Who could ignore that iconic, fresh and funky, groovalicious soundtrack by Isaac Hayes? Right from the beginning, Shaft takes place inside an edgy, big city, big risk soundscape which went on to win tremendous critical acclaim. These two factors alone would have been enough to make Shaft the important cultural achievement it truly is.
The story takes the viewer through the smog filled, dodgy streets of New York City as the slick and suave John Shaft, a black detective, makes his way through the dark alleyways and seedy hotels to rescue the kidnapped daughter of Bumpy, another funnily named Gangster that seems to be a pretty big deal in the Big Apple (where DO these guys get their names anyway?). Shaft, a quick witted, street smart, chick magnet detective, takes on the Italian Mafioso to, guess what; RESCUE the girl in the end! No big surprise there. The story itself isn’t very complicated, but the style and approach that Shaft pulls off the task with is what was truly revolutionary about this movie. Not only does it have a black man doing what is usually expected to be pulled off by a white, no nonsense, straight talking cop in a time of cinema that was completely saturated by white Hollywood; he does it with a fresh new, radical take on law enforcement. The movie has several references to the civil rights movement, beginning with Shaft’s “movement” buddy Ben Buford, and ending in a pretty violent scene that also includes a high pressure hose; a clear allusion to the police brutality that blacks endured not so long ago before the making of the movie. The film also has Sharp stepping into pretty sensitive territory with a pretty raunchy scene with a white girl he picks up at the bar as a kind of reward for unabashedly slamming a mafia goon’s head with a big bottle of whiskey. Interracial sex aside, you’ve got to admit that smashing bottles over the heads of villains is a pretty timeless strategy of attack.
The film was a pathbreaking creation that led the way for a boom in African American cinema. Besides, Shaft’s cultural influence went onto inspire filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino and managed to penetrate the white dominated movie business, with temporary, but memorable success. It was too bad that the whole blaxploitation genre was to soon run aground thanks to a proliferation of outrageously silly films like Blacula (Yes. A black Dracula), but Shaft was remembered above most of the other movies that came following its success. It was a film that empowered the masses of African Americans at the time, and still continues to be that same empowering force to this day.
And no. Martin Lawrence and his stupid fat suits don’t empower anyone.
I won’t lie. I did not like the opening music for Shaft. I had no problem with the rest of it, but the first song seemed to be trying too hard. It seems to violate the over-taught rule of Show, Don’t Tell that has been so drilled into me as a student. It also seems more TV-intro quality than movie-like, as if reintroducing someone we watch every week. The rest of it fit and the overall sound was fun. I just don’t think we needed to be told how awesome Shaft is because it becomes quite apparent throughout the rest of the film. Granted, it did have some amount of shock value because it is unexpected, so I suppose it wins in that way.
I find it interesting that anti-establiment films prior to the blaxploitation movement depicted African Americans as well to do gentlemen, but with the birth of the blaxploitation movement, they are not longer depicted as proper. They are “in your face” as if they don’t care what “you” think.
I think your review is great and captures pretty much every aspect of the film. I completely agree with the firehose part, I think that was a very blatent image aimed at the establishment for their use of firehoses, I mean come on, tactically a firehose is not the effective weapon in CQC. I also think the music was great because it was so in your face and over the top.