Ma Rainey, star of the stage on screen
By Rachel Levin, Copy Style Editor
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” was released Dec. 18, 2020 on Netflix and directed by George C. Wolfe. It is a microcosm of race struggles in the early 20th century, and full of dynamic performances and fast-paced dialogue. Based on a play of the same name by August Wilson, the film feels directly transposed from its inspiration.
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” chronicles one tumultuous day in the recording studio as 1920s African-American blues singer Ma Rainey’s (Viola Davis) producer (Jeremy Shamos) attempts to etch a record of Ma's music. Along the way Ma’s dramatic personality, along with band member Levee’s (Chadwick Boseman) wide-eyed showboating, makes for a day of adrenaline filled anticipation, always begging the question— will this song ever be recorded?
Davis’s performance drips with sweat and magnetism— every eye is on her when she steps into the room, and everyone knows not to mess with her. She embodies the electric and overwhelming presence of Ma perfectly. The same is to be said of Boseman, who bounces through the recording studio with an unmatchable energy. Levee’s movement helped to transform a scene taking place in one room feel like a stage he was performing on. This enthusiasm came through despite Boseman’s simultaneous battle with cancer. This was also Boseman’s final film before his death, and it was an impactful final performance, continuing his trend of playing historical leaders and inspirational African American figures.
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” was originally a play and as a result, translates to the screen with tight pacing and the kind of plot-steering dialogue that plays rely on. Wolfe, who has directed and written plays before, certainly stuck to the script on this one. The film felt like it had been copied and pasted onto the silver screen, with stretches of back-and-forth dialogue that went on longer than needed and little use of a comprehensive set that would not have been available on stage. The original play is on its own an incredible story with a message that did translate on screen, but Wolfe simply did not expand beyond that script, and missed some opportunities presented by the new medium.
The message of the film itself— that Black artists were continually neglected despite the enjoyment by white people of their craft— did not make the movie very hopeful. I was left with a strange feeling after my viewing, that I had been taught something important about the history of music in the U.S., but no more than that. Considering that the play was part of Wilson’s series exploring African American experience in the 20th century, it was adequately sorrowful. Throughout the film Levee desperately tries to open a jammed door at the back of the practice room, only to find it leads to a closed off brick alley. That desperation runs through all of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”-- Ma knows that once the white producers record her song, they will stop accommodating her, as if she is no longer needed. Levee has a dream he is reaching for, but must grovel to get there. The film is a microcosm of the injustice that was life for the black american in the 20th century.
Though it did feel like I was watching a recorded play, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” nonetheless transported me to the 1920s, and I felt just as determined and desperate for the characters as if it were happening in front of me.