Badasssss!

Badasssss!

The Van Peebles name used to be something of an in-joke I had with one of my friends. This stemmed from a week where every time we turned on the television late at night we chanced upon a film starring someone with the surname Van Peebles, and usually written by/directed by/produced by Someone Van Peebles as well. The film was invariably hilariously bad, hence as a joke we would often include Van Peebles name in the company of the Scorseses and the Spielbergs and when watching something good always comment on how it was “no Van Peebles” or wonder what a Van Peeble might have done to make the film cooler. We were hilarious kids.

Well now the joke is on me. Okay, not really. I doubt Van Peebles is going around making fun of the name Uncle Cliff or saying that I'm a shit filmmaker or…anyway, my point is that all connotations with the Van Peebles name has now changed for me forever since seeing Mario's Badasssss! a short while ago.

The story of how Melvin Van Peebles, Mario's father, got his historic film made is a damn interesting story, and Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song was a damn important film, revolutionizing black filmmaking and bringing black stories to black people in a way that hadn't been done before.

Drowning in debt, and against numerous odds it seemed like Melvin should have given up trying to follow his dream (or rather, mission), but instead he fought to finish the film, so much that he nearly goes bankrupt and insane, and almost totally disregards his health, friends, and family.

If you're worried that a film starring someone playing their own father might be a sentimental wank-fest, then allow me to allay those fears. Mario puts in a great performance as his old man, but doesn't shy away from portraying his father in a less than glamorous fashion at times, especially in the scenes where we see Melvin dealing with a young Mario. Badasssss! however makes it clear that Mario thinks the end result of his father's plight makes any such negatives seem almost inconsequential by comparison to the film's importance.

I love to watch any film about filmmaking, and this is a great one to watch. Another was the Australian documentary Making Venus, which I've just recently watched (and reviewed) , a film about failed filmmakers that didn't know when to pull the plug on their obviously doomed project. Badasssss! is also about a guy who refused to give in, and while it may seem facetious to compare two Aussie fools who were making a porno-comedy to a man intent on making a cinematic revolution, both filmmakers faced plenty of hurdles on their way, and both had great passion and a pigheadedness for what they were creating in spite of these hurdles. But where the Aussie guys couldn't see the turd for the trees, Van Peebles Snr had great conviction that his film had, and deserved, an audience, and while we know it found one, when we see him in Badasssss! sitting alone in a theatre at his premiere, after all he has been through, you are practically willing a udience members to fill the cinema for him.

With Badasssss! Mario Van Peebles has made a damn fine film and ensured I have stopped, at least momentarily, laughing at him and his name, as that sound is now replaced by…well being impressed doesn't really have a sound, so I guess I will say… by applause.

My laughter has been replaced by applause.