Yet this conflict is actually secondary to the main story: Priest arrives at an estimate of the vast fortune that he needs to accumulate in order to quit the drug racket; he wants to do so in just a few months, by getting and selling a large stock of cocaine. "Superfly", a song on The O.C. After the police leave, Eddie is elated by the new situation, claiming that they are set for life, although Priest is still determined to quit after selling the thirty kilos. One day, Priest confronts Fat Freddie, one of his clients, about money that Freddie owes and threatens to force Freddies wife into prostitution unless he robs a competitor. Altogether, such an independently financed film ultimately had unusually large financial backing. What does it mean, and how is Super Fly an example of the genre? Lex Scott Davis plays Georgia, a sophisticated gallery owner involved with Priest. See our. Its kind of hilarious take on the extremes of gangs showing their power in color alone. To engineer that score, he screws over his mentor, Scatter (Michael Kenneth Williams), the veteran dealer who discovered him on the streets. The wide shots are really stunt people. ', Jason Mitchells Eddie, a Player on the Make, We first see Eddie wearing a Diesel tee shirt, Messam says. The way that the media depict and distort police violence is embedded in the film, in a scene showing a news report that follows a monstrous incident, as is the power of media to amplify misdeeds and ruin careers at a single stroke. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, "The return of "Freeway" Ricky Ross, the man behind a crack empire", "Trevor Jackson & Jason Mitchell To Star In Sony's 'Superfly' Remake From Director X; Future & Joel Silver To Produce", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Super_Fly_(1972_film)&oldid=1136581494, United States National Film Registry films, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Lucky Scott as Himself (The Curtis Mayfield Experience), Craig McMullen as Himself (The Curtis Mayfield), Tyrone McCullough as Himself (The Curtis Mayfield), This page was last edited on 31 January 2023, at 01:45. "Scatter" Stephens Was A Cleveland Street Legend & The Real Superfly 2 years ago Scott Burnstein You are unauthorized to view this page. black finish and cool bubble top and turn it over to a superyoung girl with rags and a bucket of soapy water, with a smile and a dead president, make it shine my sister. Common Sense is the nation's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of all kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in the 21st century. Superfly saves its most righteous physical violence for its finale, and its a sequence that will probably enrage anyone whos ever uttered the phrase Blue Lives Matter. The entire denouement has a nice satirical sting, pushed along by the rapper and songwriter Big Bois droll turn as an incumbent mayor hungry for re-election. Superfly reflects the gun-madness of modern American society, with drug dealers and police alike bearing arsenals-worth of military-style firearms and using them with a chillingly casual frequency. The new Superfly transplants the tale to the swank environs of contemporary upscale Atlanta, and it gives its hero the 21st-century equivalent of ONeals processed-pimp look. Although this plan was much discussed throughout the mid-1970s, it was not implemented. An additional way to control how far light scatters though the surface, only this time with separate values for the red, green and blue channels. Soon after, the drugs are cut and being sold by Priest and Eddies family, with many buyers being attracted by the high quality. Superfly - Necessary Violence: Adalberto Gonzalez (Esai Morales) kills Scatter (Michael Kenneth Williams) after he realizes that he's been stealing from him. The hot-tempered . In Jan 1973, trade papers reported that although it previously had been announced as under consideration as a nominee, Mayfields song Freddies Dead had been ruled ineligible for entry in the Best Original Song category because it appeared in the film only as an instrumental. Greed and corruption are themselves the magnetic fields that pull together would-be players white, Latino and African-American. On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 93% based on 27 reviews, and an average rating of 7.3/10. Frequent profanity, including the "N" word . If you are a California resident, California law may consider certain disclosures of data a sale of your personal information (such as cookies that help Motion Picture Association later serve you ads, like we discuss in our. Juju suspects Priest of a hit on Snow Patrol and plans to retaliate. The Student National Coordinating Committee also protested the film as a tool of white oppression.[8]. Fighting over recriminations about Freddie's death, Priest starts strangling Eddie and leaves him unconscious. I'm an intermediate flier (eflight ministick, hell raiser, formosa). If Priests stratagems in the original seem like the moves of a chess master, his new ones resemble the work of a grandmaster of simultaneous blindfold-chess, for whom, through information technology, distant nodes of power are instantaneously connected (the last image of the film is even a kinga white kingbeing tipped over on a chess board). Its all about the accumulation of wealth and a sybaritic lifestyle. The original Priest, played by Ron O'Neal, famously sported leisure suits and floor-length overcoats, but Trevor Jackson's version of the drug dealer favors a less flamboyant style drawn from AllSaints, Burberry and German designer Phillip Plein. He has a luxurious apartment, two girlfriends, and lots of money. Additionally, the end credits on the original film release and video cassette differ from the DVD. [12] It was the highest-grossing blaxploitation film at the time.[13]. 2019 AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE. All rights reserved. After Priest leaves with the cash, Eddie betrays him by phoning the lieutenant. He also has a run-in with the Snow Patrol, a rival crew of coke dealers who dress in white. 26 Jan 2023 07:44:06 . [5], While Sony and other publications reported the film was made on a net production budget of $16 million, Deadline stated their sources insisted the actual cost was "well north of $20 [million], near $30 [million]". As reported by Filmfacts, as well as other contemporary news items and reviews, Super Fly was the first black-oriented film to be financed entirely by blacks (in this case, a group of businessmen from the Harlem community) as well as the first to use an all-black and/or Puerto Rican technical crew. In mid-Apr 1972, Var noted that, because of the black-oriented nature of the screenplay, Fenty and Parks, Jr. directly approached the Harlem community for financial backing, which they obtained from a consortium of businessmen, lawyers, dentists et al. The films pressbook adds that the consortium of eighteen investors included pimps, madams and drug dealers. In a Sep 1972 Var article, Parks, Jr. specifically thanked his father, director Gordon Parks, Sr., and two black dentists, Ed Allen and Connie [Cornelius] Jenkins, for financing the production. But the majority of time, Priest wants to keep a low profile, so the clothes are dark., Given the tight time constraints, Massam did much of her tailoring on the fly. Producer Sig Shore, who plays Deputy Commissioner Reardon, is billed in the cast credits as Mike Richards. Cynthia: [after refusing a snort of coke because Priest is going to leave rather than stay for sex] Some things go better with coke. Outside, Priest is held by two patrolmen, although he smiles to himself as Georgia makes good her escape. Just think about it, don't throw it out, just, just think about it. Essential drama about violent chapter in U.S. history. A remake was released in 2018. [8] Several California organized crime veterans, including drug trafficker "Freeway" Rick Ross, have cited the film as an influence in their decision to take up drug dealing and gang violence. "Super Fly Quotes." Unsurprisingly, cocaine use is frequent. Priest, whose real power is information (hes got it on everyone), is surrounded by player-predators who are less cunning but more crudely violent than he is. The National Catholic Office gave the film a C, or condemned, rating, stating: This kind of black liberation serves only to deceive the brothers and play upon the fears of black audiences. Many African-American groups and critics targeted the film, asserting that it glorified drug usage, violence, obtaining wealth through crime and sexual stereotypes about black men. Although the timid Freddie abhors violence, he agrees and accompanies a member of Priests family of lower-level dealers to commit the robbery. The moral conundrum of drug dealing among African-Americans was addressed mostly by Curtis Mayfields superb soundtrack, which functioned as a kind of Greek chorus. "Future to Co-Produce Director X-Helmed 'Superfly' Remake", "What's filming in Atlanta now? The next day, Freddie is picked up for fighting, and when he is beaten by the police, he reveals when and where Priest and Eddie are to pick up the first kilo of cocaine from Scatter. "[7], Super Fly resonated with many of the post-Civil Rights Movement generation of African Americans, who saw Youngblood as a new example of how to rise in the American class system. Controls how far light can scatter through the surface. But the remake nonetheless gains an outsized resonance, one that reaches far beyond their blandly glossy audiovisual identity, by way of its echo of current political crises and scandals. Eddie is elated by the new situation, claiming that they are set for life, although Priest is still determined to quit after selling the thirty kilos. There's also marijuana and cigarette smoking and drinking. I want to up our supply. This scene is Trevor and Michael as Priest and Scatter, the student and mentor. A remake of the 1972 blaxploitation classic trades in its drug-dealer-as-outlaw-capitalist mythology for a glossy, slammed-together genre flick. Eddie: You're gunna give all this up? Hoping for one last score, Priest and his partner travel to Mexico to arrange a deal. The mainspring of the action is a shooting. Another quality that distinguishes Super Fly from other blaxploitation films was the technical crew, the majority of which was non-white, constituting the largest non-white technical crew in its time. (For instance, Parks, in a directorial masterstroke unrivalled in Superfly, delivers a critical scene of dialogue in a single, thrillingly tenseand wordlessshot.) Priest demands his half of their profits from Eddie. Youngblood Priest: I ain't bullshittin' you, captain. This Superfly has original songs by the hip-hop artist Future, whos also a producer of the film. When Priest reacts hostilely, Georgia explains that she loves him and wants to help him cope with the difficulties of street life. Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. Trevor Jackson in Superfly, a remake of the 1972 film by Gordon Parks Jr. Director X narrates a sequence from the film featuring Trevor Jackson and Michael Kenneth Williams. Priest diffuses the Youngblood Priest, an African-American drug dealer who specializes in selling cocaine, enjoys a luxurious lifestyle in Harlem. In the original Super Fly, a few handguns made an appearance but, if memory serves, not one of them is discharged in the entire film; the gun is the ultimate threat, one that is even unsheathed only sparingly. How are remakes similar to and different from the originals? Although a Sep 1971 HR article listed Shores company Plaza Productions as the films intended production company, Superfly, Ltd. is listed onscreen and by copyright materials. The unit publicist on the film, David Parks, was Parks, Jr.s brother. The hot-tempered Eddie threatens Scatter, demanding that he reveal his source if he will not supply them, but Scatter disarms Eddie and holds him at gunpoint. Adalberto is disowned by his mother, and executed at her order after she receives proof that he framed his brother for a crime. Priest spends the rest of the film dancing among a trio of forces who are out to put the screws on him: the cartel, led by the always lively actor Esai Morales; the thugs of Snow Patrol; and a pair of corrupt white officers, played by Brian F. Durkin and Jennifer Morrison, who shake him down for a million dollars. I am Director X. Im the director of Superfly 2018. Priest plays good guy by handing the victims friends a wad of cash and giving them the name of the best local trauma center. Unlike the earlier film, the new one (written by Alex Tse) goes beyond the local streetside and backroom focus of the drug trade to expose a vipers nest of conspiracies that extend from the internecine conflicts between groups of dealers to the collaboration of major elected officials. Snow Patrol members led by Juju shoot up Priest's mansion. 2023 Cond Nast. So maybe its heartening, in a way, that Super Fly once meant something and that the new Superfly, for what its worth, means next to nothing. The new group charged that Super Fly was super-genocide and that it was the latest Hollywood game being run on black people. A 28 Jan 1973 LAT article, which called the group BANG (Blacks Against Narcotics and Genocide), reported that it had picketed the movie and ONeal, when he made personal appearances in Washington, D.C. to support the movie, but its efforts had little apparent impact. Before the opening cast and >>, Working titles for this film were Black Irish , If I Die Before I Wake and Take This Woman . The site compared the situation to Proud Mary, a film released in January 2018 that Sony reported cost $14 million to make but other sources listed at as high as $30 million. Hugh Hart has covered movies, television and design for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wired and Fast Company. Fat Freddie: Listen, Priest, that's my wife you're talking about, man. Youngblood Priest: Look what would I do? If you go back and watch a vintage blaxploitation film like Super Fly (1972), it has a time-capsule quality that only enhances the low-rent documentary scuzziness of its atmosphere. But until you can do that, you go sing your marching songs some place else. Synopsis Youngblood Priest, a young Atlanta cocaine kingpin, has been working the streets since he was eleven. As Mayfields Pusherman plays, Priests drugs are seen hitting Birmingham, Ala.; Nashville; Miami; and Houston. In response, Freddy (without Priests permission) shoots up a barbershop thats a Snow Patrol hangout, and a game of bloody vengeance is launched. On June 26, 2018, The Warner Archive Collection released "Super Fly" on Blu-ray and has received mostly praise for its video & audio restoration. He has two live-in girlfriends, the quietly sophisticated Georgia (Lex Scott Davis) and the younger, flintier Cynthia (Andrea Londo). You can help us help kids by A title card then appears, reading "November 25, 1975, Philadelphia." But getting out isn't as easy as Priest hopes when it's revealed that the actual supplier from the police is higher up the chain of command, and this supplier wants Priest dead if he quits. But one of those minions, Juju (Kaalan KR Walker), seethes with resentmenthe wants to do away with Priest and take over his business, and, without Qs permission, takes a shot at Priest outside the club, but instead hits a bystander. Messam put together the wardrobe guided by Director X, who previously shot music videos for Rihanna, Drake and Kendrick Lamar before rebooting the 1972 blaxpoitation classic. The gaudy fashions might be as obsolete as the old crumbling '70s New York City that serves as the background to the scenes, but the substance of the movie has ensured that Super Fly remains something more than a relic. Priest overcomes his foes using karate, then reveals that he knows exactly who Reardon is. Kaalan "KR" Walker as Juju, a member of the Snow Patrol, a rival drug outfit, who takes an immediate dislike to Priest and plots to kill him. The new HBO film dramatizes the effect of culture and politics on the most intimate extremes of a persons lifeand how particularly distorting and damaging this collective power has been for women. Their stuff isnt even carried in the U.S. but its really well made, very slim and lean. K. C.s only other motion picture appearance was in the 1972 United Artists release Across 110th Street (see above), which was also filmed on location in New York City. Radius. Shot in a functional, slammed-together manner thats less sensually stylish than youd expect from a music-video auteur, the film is a competent yet glossy and hermetic street-hustle drug thriller, less a new urban myth than a lavishly concocted episode. I mean, maybe this is what you're supposed to do, maybe this is what you're growing to. Gordon's War (1973) Carl Lee was born on 22 November 1926 in New York City, New York, USA. And you really ain't got the stomach for that. Priest defuses the situation and persuades Scatter to help them, although Scatter warns that it will be the last time. What are some other movies with unforgettable soundtracks? Within those cynically defined contemporary parameters, Youngblood Priest (Trevor Jackson, dressed to the nines and sporting what one character derides as Morris Day hair) is doing well. Another controversy surrounding Mayfields score for Super Fly arose from the role of arranger Johnny Pate, who receives onscreen credit as music conducted by. As reported by a Sep 1972 LAT article, Pate, with whom Mayfield had worked several times before the films soundtrack, claimed that Mayfield had merely dictated ideas, while it was Pate who did the actual arranging, scoring, voicing, or orchestrating. Mayfield disputed Pates statements that he was unacknowledged, noting that Pate did receive adequate credit for his contributions on the Super Fly soundtrack liner notes.
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