Produced by Denzel Washington, Todd Black, and Dany Wolf, the project was originally announced alongside Washington's Fences in 2013 as part of his ten-picture deal with HBO. The adaptation eventually moved to Netflix and filming began in Pittsburgh in 2019. Boseman died during post-production in August 2020, making Black Bottom his final film appearance. The film is dedicated to his memory.
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom began a limited theatrical release on November 25, 2020, before beginning to stream on Netflix on December 18. Critics praised the performances of Davis, Boseman, and Turman as well as the costume design and production values. It was named as one of the ten best films of 2020 by the American Film Institute.[4] The film received five nominations at the 93rd Academy Awards, including Best Actor (for Boseman), Best Actress (for Davis), and won two awards: Makeup and Hairstyling and Costume Design.[5] Additionally, the film received eight Critics' Choice Movie Award nominations and nine NAACP Image Award nominations, including Outstanding Motion Picture,[6] with Davis and Boseman both winning lead acting awards. Davis and Boseman also won lead acting awards for their performances at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, making them the first African-American actors in history to win in leading categories in the same year;[7] both received nominations at the Golden Globes, with Boseman posthumously winning Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama.
Plot
Ma Rainey is a highly regarded, strong-willed blues singer who has recently been contracted by white producers to record an album. The story takes place on July 2, 1927, when the first recording session is scheduled for Ma by her manager Irvin to take place at Paramount's Recording Studios in Chicago. Seasoned Georgia Jazz Band members Toledo, Cutler, and Slow Drag arrive on time without Ma, which frustrates producer Mel Sturdyvant. They are soon joined by Levee Green, the band's overconfident trumpeter, who has shown Sturdyvant his original compositions in the hopes of getting his own record deal. The other musicians find Levee's behavior disrespectful to Ma. Teased by the rest of the band about his ability to deal with white men, Levee relates how his mother was gang-raped in front of him. His father killed four of the rapists but was then lynched and burned.
Ma arrives an hour late with her lady friend, Dussie Mae, and her nephew, Sylvester. Immediately, she clashes with Sturdyvant and Irvin, making numerous demands. Insulted that the Coca-Cola she requested has not been provided, Ma refuses to sing until Slow Drag and Sylvester bring her one. Later, she insists to Sturdyvant that the opening words of the album be spoken by Sylvester (who has a pronounced stutter) so he can receive royalties. As a result, the group has to do multiple takes of the song “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom," much to everyone's frustration.
Ma confides to Cutler that her white bosses are only interested in her voice and would otherwise regard her as "just a dog in the alley", which he understands and sympathizes with. Meanwhile, Levee and Dussie Mae have sex in the practice room before being interrupted by Slow Drag.
The group finally manages to get through the first track after multiple takes, but discovers an equipment failure has caused it not to be recorded. The band blames Levee, who they think tripped over a wire while eyeing Dussie Mae, though it is revealed to have been damaged already. Their argument leads the religious Cutler to tell a story about a preacher he once knew who got stranded in a small town and was humiliated by a group of white men who tore up his Bible and forced him to dance. Levee brushes off the story by retorting that if there was a God, he would care for black people, which he never has. Cutler attacks Levee in anger, and the young man forces him back with a knife while continuing to belittle his beliefs.
The group finally finishes recording, but Ma fires Levee soon afterward, believing his reckless ambition and uncompromising attitude to be detrimental to the band. Levee meets with Sturdyvant about his original songs, but learns that the producer will only buy the rights and never intended to give him a deal. Levee subsequently suffers a mental breakdown and, after Toledo accidentally steps on his new shoes, fatally stabs him in the back with the knife. Cutler and Slow Drag leave in horror as Levee cradles Toledo's corpse. Later, Sturdyvant records Levee's songs with a band consisting entirely of white musicians (supposedly Paul Whiteman's Orchestra).
Filming commenced on July 8, 2019 in Pittsburgh, with sets converted into 1927 Chicago, and wrapped on August 16, 2019.[13]
On August 28, 2020, Boseman died of colon cancer during post-production, making Ma Rainey's Black Bottom his final film appearance. The film is dedicated to him.[14][15][16]
Release
The film was theatrically released in select theaters on November 25, 2020,[14] before beginning to stream on December 18, on Netflix.[17] Netflix also released a 31-minute making-of documentary Ma Rainey's Black Bottom: A Legacy Brought to Screen alongside the film.[18] Upon its digital release to Netflix, the film was the most-watched item over its opening weekend.[19]
Reception
Critical response
The performances of Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman received widespread critical acclaim, with many critics describing Boseman's final performance as the best of his career. Both earned Academy Award nominations for Best Actress and Best Actor, respectively.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 97% based on 301 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Framed by a pair of powerhouse performances, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom pays affectionate tribute to a blues legend — and Black culture at large."[20] According to Metacritic, which compiled 46 reviews and calculated a weighted average score of 87 out of 100.[21]
For the Los Angeles Times, Justin Chang wrote "Boseman, evincing the same integrity he clung to his entire career, refuses to soft-pedal the destination. He imparts to this seething, shattered man the gift of a broken soul, driven by anger and trauma, and makes him all the more human for it. His final moments of screen time are among his darkest, and also his finest."[22] Eric Kohn of IndieWire gave the film a "B" grade and praised Davis and Boseman's performances, saying: "All of this would be more concerning if Ma Rainey's Black Bottom didn't turn on Wilson's crackling dialogue and a jazzy pace on par with the music. Above all, the movie amounts to a solid resurrection that doesn't muck up the bulk of what made the play click in the first place."[23]
Peter Travers, reviewing the film for ABC News, said: "Davis plays the real-life Ma Rainey, the Georgia singer dubbed the Mother of the Blues. Boseman invests body and soul into Levee, the hot-headed trumpeter who dares to lock horns with Ma in a shabby Chicago recording studio where they're paid to make music the way the white bosses want it. The time is 1927, but the bristling racial tensions feel as timely as ever."[24]
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