Melvin Van Peebles has just finished his film Watermellon Man and he is planning his next film. Its about a black hustler who stands up for the black community. The film Union said it would never support the idea as the main character was a black man and they said no one will watch it. So Melvan decides to make it independently; pretending that its a porno so the union leaves him alone; though the film does have sex scenes. He puts together a make ship crew and they start off on a very short twenty day shot. Though from get go this film had problems that would have stopped it completely, but Melvin kept pushing and pushing till it was done. Melvin alienated everyone in the process, becoming so obsessed that his health started to wain and become threatening to his sight.When Sweet Sweetbacks Baadasssss Song came out; with a X rating, it became a massive hit with the black community and the community in general. It revolutionized cinema and independent film making. Baadasssss (title release in Australia) is a great insight of the making of this film. Part film and part mock-doc format, Mario Van Peebles has created a great homage to his father Melvin. The was a lot of controversy when SSBS came out due to its explicit sex and nudity, an opening scene of SSBS was where he used his son Mario in a sex scene. But more that it show a black man standing up against the white man. There was a great scene in Baadassss where they shot a scene of Sweetback bashing two crocked white cops. The black people were cheering while the white men were shifting awkwardly in their seats; it just said it all.Mario Van Peebles has done a great job at bring the story of his fathers struggle over his film. Mario played Melvin perfectly, and also used his son Khleo Thomas to play him. The rest of the cast is just spot on, Joy Bryant as Priscilla is perfectly eccentric, making every entrance a grandeur one. It was also great to see in the end credits some of the actual people how helped with the film; Bill Cosby was a major financial help, the band Earth, Wind, Fire who did the soundtrack of SSBS, and the film makers and other crew people.An awesome watch.

This movie was great. I remember when I was a youngster in the early 70's, I heard about this Sweetback" movie. My father and his friends joked about being bad as "Sweetback", but I never understood it. Later on in high school, I finally heard about the movie, but was never in any situation where I could see it. When I was thirty-something, I finally saw Sweet Sweetback on VHS and I thought it was a trip with the grainy pictures and the sex scenes and the cops and the music. I did not understand then what a big deal the movie was when it came out twenty years earlier, and ultimately I thought that this movie could not have done well. When I saw Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing, I really became engaged in the making of movies because I wanted to know what moved Spike to make such a film. I read everything he put out about making Do the Right Thing, as well as She's Gotta Have It and School Daze. This movie making sojourn took me back to earlier movie production efforts and led me to understand the struggles of early black film makers. Ultimately, I came upon Sweetback again. My new found research uncovered that Earth Wind and Fire had played the music for the movie. Needless to say EWF is treasured in my household, (Love's Holiday from their greatest album ever, (All N All 1977) is the song my wife and I were married to) After that epiphany, I wondered what it took to put this movie together.Mario Van Peebles brought it home for me. This movie 'Baddasss' was such a great story, I wish I was enlightened when I was 12 or 13 when it came out just to say I was. Mario's portrayal of Melvin was surreal; some clips had Mario actually seem darker skinned, like Melvin. The exhaustive, demanding, stressful pursuit of his goal; the single-minded determination to succeed despite all of the barriers; and the supporting figures throughout the cause really was amazing! I don't know what a spoiler is but this may count, I thought the cameos and stories of the participants at the end were fantastic, especially Maurice and Verdine White and the last cameo. I saw the movie on cable PPV at home and I gave it a standing ovation. I hope this movie gets Mario a well-deserved Academy nomination, but more importantly, I hope it gets seen by any aspiring film-maker.This movies is a fitting honor to a phenomenal trailblazer. Rod Walker

Not only do I enjoy low budget exploitation films but I love films about the making of films so is there any question as to why I consider this to be one of the years best? Story is about the seemingly impossible task of Melvin Van Peebles (Mario Van Peebles) who in 1971 was fresh off the success of directing "Watermelon Man" and wanted to make a serious film about blacks and made by blacks. The studio won't finance it so Melvin decides to get the money himself and independently make it without the involvement of the union. Melvin enlists the help of a porn producer named Clyde Houston (David Alan Grier) and anyone else willing to work for little or no pay.*****SPOILER ALERT*****Melvin uses his own son Mario (Khleo Thomas) in a graphic sex scene which doesn't set well with others including girlfriend Sandra (Nia Long) but aside from alienating family and the crew Melvin is forced to borrow money from Bill Cosby (T.K. Carter) so that he can finish his film. Once he manages to complete his film he now has the difficulty of getting it shown in theaters because the ratings board has slapped it with an "X" rating.This film is directed by Mario Van Peebles who plays his own father and he was actually on the set as a 13 year old while "Sweet Sweetback Baadasssss Song" was being made and had a few small roles in it. I've always loved films about the making of films and this is arguably one of the best I've ever seen. Mario doesn't seem to hold anything back as he shows his father in both his best and worst moments and some of the worst were how he lied and used people to get his film made with even resorting to use his own son in a sex scene. It's hard to shake the image of an exhausted and burnt out Melvin slapping his editor when he mentions that he wants to quit. But at his best Melvin was as determined a filmmaker as there ever was even when he had no money and this adds up to one of the most fascinating accounts ever put on film. Mario naturally admires his father but I think it's obvious he also harbors some deep felt resentment about certain things and this film as a whole probably works as a form of therapy for him. The film also has a visual style that's appealing and Peebles uses certain scenes to show the alter image of his father talking to him during this exhausting shoot. If your not a fan of the early black films of the 1970's than this might not have any appeal to you but I am a real fan of those films and I think this is nothing short of fascinating.

It's a real shame that mediocre indie films, such as "Open Water" and "Napoleon Dynamite," get tons of publicity while a gem like "Baadasssss!" goes unnoticed.Director and co-writer Mario Van Peebles affectionately, but truthfully, chronicles a fictional telling of his father, Melvin Van Peebles' attempt to make "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song," modern black cinema's groundbreaking film, which was compulsory viewing for the Black Panthers and paved the way for countless black actors, filmmakers and film technicians. The Spike Lees, Ernest Dickersons, John Singletons and Wayanses owe a huge debt of gratitude to not only what Melvin accomplished 33 years ago, but also how he did it.Mario Van Peebles' previous directorial efforts, "New Jack City" (1991), "Posse" (1993) and "Panther" (1995), showed potential, but were mired in clichés and turned out to be rather forgettable. That's not the case with "Baadasssss!"This is an exciting, funny and moving film about one man's zeal to make the movie he wants to make. Melvin did not want to kowtow to studios and was fed up with how blacks were portrayed in Hollywood movies. So he set out to make a movie where the black man fought back, then went on the run and got away. And he did it with an ethnically diverse crew (which was unheard of then), many of whom knew little or nothing about movie-making."Baadasssss!" brilliantly illustrates Melvin's struggles, including pretending he was shooting a black porno film to hide his real intent from the crafts unions, running out of money, losing his vision in one eye and finding a distributor for "Sweet Sweetback."Mario shows a deep sense of love and respect for his father's achievement. But Mario definitely doesn't sugarcoat his depiction of Melvin. The Melvin we see in this film is a driven, obsessive man who loves his friends and family deeply, but won't let anything or anyone stop his film, including the weekend jailing of his crew. Mario's reluctance about being forced to be in a "sex scene" in his dad's movie is one of the film's highlights. The moment works thanks to a nicely subdued and thoughtful performance by Khleo Thomas as the young Mario.Mario Van Peebles and Dennis Haggerty penned a smart, energetic script. They add a nice undercurrent to the story by creating a father-son dynamic, which adds a layer of surprising depth to the story. Mario Van Peebles so completely immerses himself into the role of his father that we forget we're watching Mario play Melvin.Where the script falters is in its over-reliance on voice-over narration used to to convey Melvin's thoughts. It works sometimes. But it also seems obtrusive. For instance, Melvin's thoughts about the contents of the props drawer aren't needed because we're smart enough to know how dangerous or funny it could have all turned out."Baadasssss!" is as much about Melvin's passion to make his influential film as it is about the importance of maintaining one's integrity. Just as Melvin didn't compromise his story, Mario, too, apparently held out and refused to compromise. Producers wanted him to make the film more acceptable to "a white audience" or toss in some hip-hop. But Mario didn't relent and made the film he wanted to make.The paradox about this film about the making of a film is that while Mario's movie is technically and cinematic ally superior to Melvin's seminal film, "Baadasssss!" ultimately isn't as politically, socially or historically influential as the film it chronicles. Nevertheless, for anyone interested in movie-making, "Baadasssss!" is a must, along with the documentaries, "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse" (1991) and "Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography" (1992). "Baadasssss!" is one of the best and most enjoyable films ever made about film-making.