| James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket
James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket uses striking archival footage to evoke the atmosphere of Baldwin's formative years - the Harlem of the 30s, his father's fundamentalist church and the émigré demimonde of postwar Paris. Newsreel clips from the '60's record Baldwin's running commentary on the drama of the Civil Rights movement. The film also explores his quiet retreats in Paris, the South of Franc, Istanbul and Switzerland - places where Baldwin was able to write away from the racial tensions of America. Writers Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka, Ishmael Reed, William Styron and biographer David Leeming place Bladwin's work in the African-American literary tradition - from slave narratives and black preaching to their own contemporary work. The film skillfully links excerpts from Baldwin's major books - Go Tell it on the Mountain, Notes of a Native Son, Another Country, The Fire Next Time, Blues for Mister Charlie, If Beale Street Could Talk - to different stages in black-white dialogue and conflict. Towards the end
of his life, as America turned its back on the challenge of racial justice,
Baldwin became frustrated but rarely bitter. He kept writing and reaching
in the strengthened belief that : "All men are brothers - That's the
bottom line." |
"Succeeds remarkably
in getting into the mind and spirit of the most celebrated black writer
of our time." "A brilliant
film which magnificently evokes Baldwin's spirit." A Splendid…Keen
and careful...a beautifully structured format."
Video
Purchase: $195
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James
Baldwin (1924-1987) was at once a major twentieth century American author,
a Civil Rights activist and, for two crucial decades, a prophetic voice
calling Americans, black and white, to confront their shared racial
tragedy. James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket captures on film
the passionate intellect and courageous writing of a man who was born
black, impoverished, gay and gifted.
