This August Wilson adaptation is set in Chicago in 1927, and follows a blues singer, Ma Rainey (Viola Davis) who is recording music in Chicago at the time. The film focuses on the dynamics between her, a white manager, and several people that work with her during the recording session, such as a horn player (Chadwick Boseman.
The film definitely seems like a movie that was adapted from a play, so be prepared for VERY long, dialogue-heavy scenes, but also be prepared for outstanding performances all around. Everyone brought their A-game, especially Chadwick Boseman.
Good story, amazing acting. I would recommend for all.
One of the decades (20s) covered in his monumental "century cycle," August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is the only one located outside of Pittsburgh (Chicago) but remains rife with the same themes and issues plaguing Steel Town as well as the country in that particular decade that still resonates in some form in this day and age.Ma Rainey (Viola Davis) is a diva of the first rank who likes to throw her weight around as well as shock polite society.
I think every Black person has a relative, friend, neighbor or acquaintance like Ma Rainey...God bless her!
You can quickly recognise filmed theatre. Few changes of location and, especially in American plays, far too much dialogue.
I thought it was a movie that was able to capture the heart of what Ma Rainey's band went through in one day of rehearsal. I thought it captured the mood and environment of 1920s Chicago, and from already coming up from the south and then coming into Chicago to actually see and feel the difference of how she was treated in the south versus being in Chicago.
The late August Wilson is celebrated for his 'Philadelphia' cycle of ten plays all but one of which are set in his home town, the city of brotherly love. The exception is this one, which was the first in the cycle and is set in Chicago where four black musicians are waiting for the legendary blues singer Ma Rainey who is late for her date to cut two sides - the time is 1927 when discs were made of shellac.
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