#1094: PEEBLES, Melvin Van: Watermelon Man (1970)

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PEEBLES, Melvin Van (United States)
Watermelon Man (1970)
Spine #1094
Blu-ray


Melvin Van Peebles’s only foray into Hollywood filmmaking, Watermelon Man is one of the most audacious, radically conceived works to be financed by a major American studio in the 1970s. Comedian Godfrey Cambridge delivers a virtuoso performance (initially in whiteface) as Jeff Gerber, a loudmouthed, bigoted white insurance salesman whose sitcomlike suburban existence is jarringly upended when he wakes up to discover, in a wild spin on Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, that he has become a Black man. What ensues is a ferocious satire of society’s racist double standards that gradually transforms into an empowering portrait of awakening Black consciousness, executed with a mix of acerbic irreverence and deadly serious political commentary by a relentlessly subversive Van Peebles.

110 minutes
Color
Monaural
1:85:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2021
Director/Writer



Martin Van Peebles was 38 when he directed Watermelon Man.

The Film

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Fifty-six page booklet featuring essays by film scholars Racquel J. Gates, Allyson Nadia Field, Michael B. Gillespie, and Lisa B. Thompson.

Commentary

None.

Introduction

By Van Peebles from 2004.

How to Eat Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It)

A feature-length 2005 documentary by Joe Angio on Van Peeble’s life and career.

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

By Spine #

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