Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song
Directed by Melvin Van Peebles • 1971 • United States
Starring Melvin Van Peebles, Simon Chuckster, Hubert Scales
A landmark of Black and American independent cinema that would send shock waves through the culture, SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSSS SONG was Melvin Van Peebles’s second feature film, after he walked away from a contract with Columbia in order to make his next film on his own terms. Acting as producer, director, writer, composer, editor, and star, Van Peebles created the prototype for what Hollywood would eventually co-opt and make into the blaxploitation hero: a taciturn, perpetually blank-faced performer in a sex show, who, when he’s pushed too far by a pair of racist cops looking to frame him for a crime he didn’t commit, goes on the run through a lawless underground of bikers, revolutionaries, sex workers, and hippies in a kill-or-be-killed quest for liberation from white oppression. SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSSS SONG’s incendiary politics are matched by Van Peebles’s revolutionary style, in which jagged jump cuts, kaleidoscopic superimpositions, and psychedelic sound design come together in a sustained howl of rage and defiance.
This film contains scenes that depict sexual activity, including some involving underage participants. Viewer discretion is advised.
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Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song
Directed by Melvin Van Peebles • 1971 • United States
Starring Melvin Van Peebles, Simon Chuckster, Hubert ScalesA landmark of Black and American independent cinema that would send shock waves through the culture, SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSSS SONG was Melvin Van Peebles’s second feature film, a...
Extras
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SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSSS SONG Commentary
This audio commentary featuring director Melvin Van Peebles was recorded in 1997 for the Criterion Collection’s laserdisc edition of SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSSS SONG.
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Melvin Van Peebles on SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSSS SONG
In this brief introduction, recorded in 1997, director Melvin Van Peebles shares the four goals he set for SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSSS SONG.
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Mario Van Peebles and Elvis Mitchell on SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSSS SONG
In this interview, recorded in 2021, filmmaker Mario Van Peebles shares with film critic Elvis Mitchell anecdotes about his father, director Melvin Van Peebles.
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Melvin Van Peebles, 1971
In this segment from the television show “Detroit Tubeworks,” director Melvin Van Peebles promotes his film SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSSS SONG on the occasion of its Detroit opening weekend, in 1971.
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Gerald R. Butters Jr., Amy Abugo Ongiri, and Novotny Lawrence on SWEET SWEETBACK
In this 2021 conversation, film scholars Gerald R. Butters Jr., Amy Abugo Ongiri, and Novotny Lawrence discuss the film SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSSS SONG and its impact on Black film.
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Melvin Van Peebles on “Black Journal”
This October 19, 1971, episode of the television show “Black Journal” features interviews with director Melvin Van Peebles and journalists Clayton Riley, Francis Ward, and A. Peter Bailey.
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Melvin Van Peebles on SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSSS SONG, 2002
Melvin Van Peebles recounts his memories of making his film SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSSS SONG as he strolls through Paris, in this interview from 2002.
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Melvin Van Peebles on SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSSS SONG, 2004
This excerpted interview with director Melvin Van Peebles, conducted by his son filmmaker Mario Van Peebles, was recorded in 2004 for the Directors Guild of America’s Visual History Program.
