IMDb RATING
7.3/10
5.3K
YOUR RATING
Mario Van Peebles' half-documentary/half-homage to his father Melvin Van Peebles' movie Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971).Mario Van Peebles' half-documentary/half-homage to his father Melvin Van Peebles' movie Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971).Mario Van Peebles' half-documentary/half-homage to his father Melvin Van Peebles' movie Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971).
- Awards
- 3 wins & 11 nominations total
Ralph P. Martin
- Tommy David
- (as Ralph Martin)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDuring a July 2004 interview with Terry Gross on the National Public Radio program "Fresh Air," Mario Van Peebles explained that he did not want to put any child actor in the same position he was put in on the set of Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971), especially because he felt like, as a thirteen-year-old, his father had given him no choice but to participate in a sex scene with a much older woman--partly by threatening to confiscate the bicycle he had received as a Christmas present if he didn't perform. "I didn't enjoy it at all. I didn't want to be in that scene. I didn't want to have to give that bike back--that bike had a banana seat!...I didn't want to make anyone do that scene twice, so in Baadasssss! (2003) I just used the original footage of me as a kid in "(Sweet) Sweetback('s Baadasssss Song)" during that scene. So the kid I cast (to play the younger version of me, Khleo Thomas) wasn't going to have to do anything like that. And that's just something that I wanted to do--I said, 'well, I'm not going to repeat, do unto someone else what I didn't like having done unto me. ' But I did want to show the scene because I thought it was a point in my life, and it just showed something interesting about Melvin, that he was sort of like that 'Great Santini-esque' father--almost that which does not kill in a Friedrich Nietzsche-esque way you makes you stronger."
- GoofsWhile in the "D"...Detroit, The DJ announces the radio station's call letters beginning with "K" Call letters for radio and television stations in that area of the country start with "W".
- Quotes
Melvin Van Peebles: Is this something negative, Priscilla? Because if it's negative, I can't even deal with it right now. I'm a broke, pissed off nigger from Chicago, and I'm down to my last cigar.
- Crazy creditsReal-life participants of the production of "Sweet Sweetback's..." give testimony during the closing credits, including Earth, Wind & Fire founding member Maurice White, who confirmed the "bounced check" story. Melvin Van Peebles himself appears onscreen when the credits finish.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Anatomy of a Scene: Baadasssss (2004)
- SoundtracksDamn All the Fallacies
Performed by Tree Adams
New Dog Old Trix Publishing
Written by (c) Adam Hirsh
Courtesy of Treehouse Music Inc.
Featured review
"Baadasssss!" beats out Truffaut's "Day For Night" as the greatest movie ever made about the movie business. What Mario Van Peebles does here is nothing short of extraordinary: he manages to inform the viewer about independent film-making while also incorporating an enthralling portrayal of a man obsessed by his unique version of the American dream.
Like "Adaptation", the film is a dizzying array of comedy, satire, family drama, and a little bit of Freudian psychology. Van Peebles, casting himself as his father, obviously doesn't glorify the production, but tells the story of the making of "Sweetback" in a low-key and understandable manner. He doesn't make his father a hero or a villain but rather a man pushed to his limits. The backstage antics are sometimes funny, but more often are simply incredible to believe. Van Peebles' daring use of "American Splendor"-like documentary transitions are also wonderfully effective.
It must be said that I have not seen "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" and it's hard to fathom that this film would actually be better upon after viewing it (I'm not suggesting that I won't look for the film next time I'm at the video store). Like its subject, "Baadasssss!" is a revolutionary film, and should not be limited to film buffs or fans of Mario Van Peebles; this is a movie any casual film-goer would thoroughly enjoy.
Like "Adaptation", the film is a dizzying array of comedy, satire, family drama, and a little bit of Freudian psychology. Van Peebles, casting himself as his father, obviously doesn't glorify the production, but tells the story of the making of "Sweetback" in a low-key and understandable manner. He doesn't make his father a hero or a villain but rather a man pushed to his limits. The backstage antics are sometimes funny, but more often are simply incredible to believe. Van Peebles' daring use of "American Splendor"-like documentary transitions are also wonderfully effective.
It must be said that I have not seen "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" and it's hard to fathom that this film would actually be better upon after viewing it (I'm not suggesting that I won't look for the film next time I'm at the video store). Like its subject, "Baadasssss!" is a revolutionary film, and should not be limited to film buffs or fans of Mario Van Peebles; this is a movie any casual film-goer would thoroughly enjoy.
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Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $365,727
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $45,331
- May 30, 2004
- Gross worldwide
- $365,727
- Runtime1 hour 49 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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