Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
NETFLIXMa Rainey’s Black Bottom is the latest installment in NETFLIX’s Oscar-bait lineup and their most promising attempt at awards glory, courtesy of stunning performances by Viola Davis and the late Chadwick Boseman. Based on a play of the same name by August Wilson, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom follows the titular Ma Rainey (Davis), a real-life musician and the legendary “Mother of Blues,” who spars with her white manager and producer over control over her music. Meanwhile, the fictional Levee (Boseman), a confident and a little too cocky trumpeter in Ma Rainey’s band, is determined to stake his own claim on the music industry and causes ruffles amongst the rest of the musicians.
Much like Regina King’s One Night in Miami…, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom weakest point is the failure of translating a play into a cinematic piece. The film mostly takes place over two settings, shifting between the band room and the recording studio. Technically, the production design is beautiful to look at – the spacious recording studio signifies possibility while the band room illustrates the feeling of being held back and contained – but the limited settings fail to make the film feel like a film. And despite the costuming and blues music, the film looks too modern and polished to have supposedly stepped right out of the 1920s. Throughout Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, the production design, dull cinematography and erratic editing make it seem like its characters are walking on stage to say their lines in a spotlight. The film’s Tony-winning director George C. Wolfe, with little help from writer Ruben Santiago-Hudson, is unable to escape his theatrical roots and successfully translate Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom from the stage to the screen.
Obviously, what makes Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom stand out is its performances, especially by Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis. Boseman passed away during the film’s post-production, making his role as Levee his final performance. Levee and Ma both feel like they have been cheated by white people. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom takes place in 1927 during the Great Migration. Boseman’s Levee is representative of these Black folks who came to northern cities like Chicago from the South in an effort to escape racial segregation and find opportunity, only to be handed disappointment. Levee is the personification of this, with Boseman delivering a few raging monologues spitting venom about the plight of the Black man. This is how Boseman’s Levee overshadows the titular character of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, it is his rage and cocky ambition that drives the film, Ma is just a different side of the same belief.
Ma makes her thoughts about white people clear in her constant squabbles with her white managers; she is tired of bending to their will and knowing that they need her talents, is unafraid to voice her demands. From drinking coca-cola before she sings, she says they’ll sing the song ‘Black Bottom’ first and there will be no arguing. Ma even has her stuttering nephew sing the opening lyrics to one of her songs. Viola Davis stunningly conveys this aspect of Ma Rainey. She is magnetic and prideful as she runs her recording sessions, the height of swagger in her gold slash dress, she knows the power her talent holds. While Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is not a biopic and only loosely-based on the life of the iconic blues songstress, it’s a real shame that Ma Rainey’s story is overshadowed by the grumblings of a fictional man.
With the exception of Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman, who each deliver masterful acting, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is a muddled film. It is simply a basic look at racism against Black people in the United States, which can be fine, but unfortunately Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom isn’t engaging enough to drive its message home. The central theme of white people appropriating Black culture, specifically blues music, has been explored much better in other films. A slight change in the film’s ending would have better conveyed the film’s intention. Nevertheless, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is worth it to see powerhouses Davis and Boseman.