A love story of bikes and one-night stands told through two African-American twenty-somethings dealing with issues of class, identity, and the evolving conundrum of being a minority in rapidly gentrifying San Francisco-a city with the smallest proportional black population of any other major American city.
Writer-director Barry Jenkins' debut film, Medicine for Melancholy, opens today in New York. A post-modern, post-Love Jones, Black love story-- rounded out with bikes and sunshine and identity crises. Sounds like a good time. Although New York Post "critic" V.A. Musetto-- whose review of the film is titled, "Cheerful Indie Easy to Swallow"-- thought that the Before Sunrise-like, "carefree" film was weighed down by fleeting allusions to gentrification. Right. The Invisible Woman conducted a great interview with Jenkins last October-- read it here.
If you're in New York:
IFC Center
323 Sixth Avenue
New York, NY 10014
A, B, C, D, E, F or V to W 4th
MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY
A film by Barry Jenkins NR, USA, 2009, 88 MIN
11:45 | 1:45 | 3:50 | 6:00 | 8:05 | 10:10 | 12:10am
Buy tickets
3 comments:
I had to blog this film too, it looks so interesting. Hope they show it in the UK
Hot tip, I must see this film.
"the evolving conundrum of being a minority in rapidly gentrifying San Francisco" One of the big misconceptions about San Francisco is that it's extremely diversified because there is a high Asian and Latin population. While both these statements may be true, when it comes to black culture, what's left is a yearly Fillmore jazz festival, and black neighborhoods that are but forgotten. (Except of course for the news reports of shootings)
In terms of the bike/hipster culture, any black individuals I know (boyfriend included) are all to accepting of blending in with a dominant white culture. While there is acknowledgment that being black has different cultural significances, as a white woman this bothers me somewhat but I'm not sure why. Yes, it's great that race has become so unimportant everyone can just "hang", but isn't it necessary to maintain mild separation for cultures to stay intact? Considering my background is so pale (save for being the descendant of Jewish immigrants) I wish he would express a little more interest in his own very unique and beautiful background. But then again, maybe I'm living vicariously through him.
Post a Comment