Ava du Vernay introduced this movie on TCM, and she made me interested in it and the school of black film making it's part of. It's a very experimental movie, and through its use of sound and images tries to put the viewer inside the head of a black Vietnam veteran trying to get back to the business of living in early 1980s America.
As you can probably guess, that business isn't easy. It wasn't easy for any Vietnam vets, but then add the additional burden of being a black man, and there you have it. I can appreciate the motives behind this movie and I think film lovers have an obligation to watch one or two like it. I mean here in 2019 a lot of us are still complaining about the lack of minority voices in film, and here was a whole movement driven by black artists about the black American experience. But it's not at all an entertaining or even comfortable experience. It's not supposed to be, and maybe it's not asking that much of me to devote two hours to this, which I did. But boy was it a long two hours. I have nothing but empathy for this particular Vietnam vet, but his head is a very monotonous place to be.
Grade: C