Stars: Melvin Van Peebles

Director: Melvin Van Peebles

Summary: Putting black cinema on the map and ushering in the legendary Blaxploitation genre of the 1970s, Melvin Van Peebles's SWEET SWEETBACK'S BAADASSSSS SONG is a thrilling work of entertainment as well as a historically and ideologically significant essay on the issue of race. The film tells the story of Sweetback (Van Peebles); an apolitical black sex performer who becomes a reluctant picaresque hero when he kills the two white policemen who brutalised a young prisoner for racist reasons. On the run to Mexico, Sweetback encounters all manner of provocatively stereotypical characters, including a shower-capped ghetto thug who won't help him, a hypocritical Baptist preacher, and, of course, a host of women who can't get enough of his supercharged sexuality. Working overtime as producer, editor, and co-composer (along with Earth, Wind and Fire), Van Peebles delivers a work that is the true definition of an independent film. Incorporating striking cinematic techniques into his production - including split screens, freeze-frames, and use of film negatives - he single-handedly created a new cinematic genre, proving that true innovation comes from individual human spirit, not assembly-line studio efforts.

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Aspect Ratio:	1.33 Full Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	The Real Deal Interview With Melvin Van Peebles
Year:	1971
Release Date:	November 28, 2005
Runtime:	97 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	B F I V D 712
Keywords:	Action, Song, General, Sweet, Adventure, Sweetback's, Baadasssss, Baad, Asssss
Genre:	Action/Adventure