Somehow, I had managed to live my life up to 2020 without any knowledge of Ma Rainey as an icon of early American music. The untimely death of Chadwick Boseman was the main reason many folk were drawn to this film, which had a fair Oscar buzz around it on release. Would he win an Oscar for what was essentially his final screen performance and cement his legacy forever that way? Many were saying that he would and that it would be well deserved. In the end, it proved not to be, with Danel Kaluya taking the honour for a more visceral and contemporary role – perhaps correctly.
Their is so much to like and enjoy about this short roller-coaster ride into Black music history, not least the music itself, which is evocative and raw, leading you to an urge to experience the heat and energy of it first hand in some dingy club in the 20s or 30s. Heat is a character itself here, as the tensions and pressures of the rehearsal and the world around it close in on all sides; the sweat drips and mood sizzles.
At the centre of it all is a performance that outshines even Boseman’s – that of the ever reliable Viola Davis as the titular Ma Rainey. It is a breathtaking turn of small details and absolute commitment. If Boseman is the heart of this movie, then Davis is definitely the soul. I found every inch of her performance perfect. Too bad she also lost out in the Academy Award stakes, she probably should have won, but I have yet to see the performance that pipped her from Minari. It will be quite something to beat this.
In the end, the only big awards it won were for hair/makeup and costume. It’s hard to argue with those! The production is virtually flawless in its aesthetic and design – it really does feel, in many ways, like a staged recreation of a real event word for word, movement for movement, and note for note. Yes, it does feel like theatre and not film, but in a good way. It is never static and never dull; it zips along and wastes little time getting to the dialogue and moments it needs to reach dramatically.
It is on my list of certain re-watches. Although when that will turn out to be, is in the lap of the gods of jazz. A borderline 4 Star movie that needs the right mood, but a solid movie, hard to criticise too deeply.
Decinemal Rating: 70
The Wasteland 