05/08/06 Shaft

Shaft (1971), directed by Gordon Parks

watched w/ Leslie & Brad B. (partially); DVD (personal copy) @ Camp Scoutshire Woods (Citronelle, AL)

He's one bad mutha...shut yo mouth. What, I'm just talkin' 'bout Shaft! Had to intro with that ultra-cool opening line, now that it is so ingrained into popular culture. It's amazing that I've never actually made it around to see this classic blaxploitation film. We all know the deal, and we all know the brilliantly famous theme song from Isaac Hayes (known more famously to you younger kids as Chef from South Park). We all know that this is the one (all due respect to Van Peebles' "Sweetback") that set the establishment on its ear. This is the ultimate in cool swagger for the African-American culture that was about to blow up big time onto the cinematic screen as now the hero, not the afterthought. It plays right into the ethos of all the originality of this groundbreaking film genre (minority hero-firgures, civil rights activism, sexual frankness, and pushing the envelope in just about every other category). However, it also holds the critiques that came along with such a defiant thematic approach, such as stereotypical characterization and excessive violence. However, you cannot deny how remarkably hip this film was and still is, most notably for the dead-on performance of leading man Richard Roundtree (an icon of African-American cinema). As far as the plot & basic premise go, it's not anything you've never seen before...as it follows a rough-around-the-edges detective as he takes on the seedy underbelly of New York City crime syndicates, breaks down racial taboos with his patent black leather fist, and scoring with the ladies. The film is fun mostly for its brash coolness and bad-ass kitsch, as the theme song says it all. We all wish we could be the private dick that's a sex machine to all the chicks! "He's a complicated man, but no one understands him but his woman." Can you dig it?

4 out of 5 stars