Stranger Flashback: The Music and Movies of the L.A. Rebellion at Northwest Film Forum

This is a revived version of a Line Out post (The Stranger purged them from the internet some time after they pulled the plug on their music blog in 2014).

FILM/TV Mar 13, 2013 at 12:44 pm 

The Music and Movies of the L.A. Rebellion 

KATHY FENNESSY

The L.A. Rebellion, which Stranger staffer Charles Mudede wrote about here, was an African American film movement that took place primarily in the 1970s and 1980s (Mudede will also be participating in the Cinema Salon that takes place this Saturday at the Northwest Film Forum at 6pm).

It wasn't about music, but music was part of it. Unlike the funk-powered blaxploitation films of the era, these filmmakers turned to blues, jazz, and gospel to ground narratives about community and work—or lack thereof.

To describe funk as a more commercial genre wouldn't be quite fair, but the L.A. Rebellion directors weren't thinking about radio airplay, drive-ins, and soundtrack recordings in the same way. Curtis Mayfield's Superfly soundtrack, for instance, still remains better known than the 1972 drama for which he did some of his finest work (or maybe that's just me; I have the record—my Dad had the record—but I still haven't seen photographer-turned-filmmaker Gordon Parks, Jr.'s movie).

The L.A. Rebellion series, which runs March 1-24, began at the Northwest Film Forum with screenings of films I'd seen before, like Julie Dash's Daughters of the Dust and Charles Burnett’s My Brother’s Wedding, and films I couldn't work into my schedule, like Haile Gerima's Bush Mama, but I found time for Saturday's Cinema Salon and Billy Woodberry’s Bless Their Little Hearts, for which Burnett was in attendance (he was also at Friday's screening of My Brother's Wedding).

When an audience member asked about the music in 1984's Bless Their Little Hearts, on which he served as writer and cinematographer, Burnett admitted that he didn't know the details (I heard what sounded like a Nina Simone song at one point, but didn't recognize the rest of the uncredited material).

Burnett then recounted his experience with his first film, 1977's Killer of Sheep, which was held up for 30 years due to music rights issues. For Seattle Film Blog, I wrote, "The use of Paul Robeson songs on the soundtrack, including 'The House I Live In' provides a link with the silent films of Oscar Micheaux." Once the film cleared those hurdles—after six years and $150,000—Milestone made it available for home-video and theatrical screenings (the DVD includes My Brother’s Wedding).

Given the chance to do it again, Burnett says he would've cleared the rights first, except both Killer of Sheep and Bless Their Little Hearts were student films, even if their quality belies those origins. It's not too surprising that young directors in the 1970s, even two associated with UCLA's prestigious film program, wouldn't know all the ins and outs of music licensing (or have the means to pay someone to sort it out for them). One way or the other: Burnett refused to remove even a single song.

At the Q&A on Saturday, Fantagraphics co-founder Gary Groth declared Killer of Sheep's living room scene, in which Stan (Henry Gayle Sanders) and his wife (Kaycee Moore from Bless Their Little Hearts and Daughters of the Dust) dance to Dinah Washington, as one of his favorites. He also praised the (more volatile) kitchen scene in Hearts, in which Moore proves she should've been a bigger star. Burnett acknowledged that he didn't know why some actors hit it big, while others didn't, concluding somewhat enigmatically, "She was an interesting woman..."

I haven't seen the other films in the series, so I can't speak to their use of music, but Larry Clark's Passing Through revolves around an ex-con saxophone player portrayed by Nathaniel Taylor (fresh off a run as as "Rollo" on Sanford and Son). The 1977 film, which screens this Friday in a new 35mm print, features a Horace Tapscott score, a performance from the Pan African People's Arkestra, and musical selections from Eric Dolphy, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, and Sun Ra.

Not to be confused with the Larry Clark who made Kids and Wassup Rockers, this Clark has another estimable music credit to his name: he helped to shoot Mel Stuart's utterly amazing Wattstax, which captured Richard Pryor, Isaac Hayes, and the Staple Singers at the height of their musical and comedic powers.

The music continues when author, musician, and A&R guy Pat Thomas (Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975) returns to Seattle for the final Cinema Salon on March 23. Pat is a friend who always has something of interest to say, and in this case, he'll be exploring the connections between the Black Power movement and the L.A. Rebellion. He's also been living in Los Angeles for the past year while working on a book project for Fantagraphics. Pat will be joined by Black Panther member Ron Johnson and Seattle University professor Gary Perry.

For more information about the series, please see the NWFF site. Images from Charles Burnett's Facebook account (early portrait), Establishing Shot (My Brother's Wedding), and Movie Poster Shop (Killer of Sheep).