the curtis mayfield experience

Just watched Superfly. Second only to Shaft in the Blaxploitation Hall of Fame, this movie is a textbook example of the now extinct B-movie.

Technically, Superfly is bad. And I don't mean bad as in "baadasssss". At times, the actors practically read their lines. Any shot wider than a closeup shows actors' lips out of sync with the dialogue. When Priest talks to Scatter for the first time, there is an annoying few seconds when Scatter is saying something important, but his face is obscured.

Transitions between scenes are abrupt, even when there is no good reason for it. Every shot looks like the first take—the director seems to have run out of film before getting all the coverage he needed. This would explain the extended still-photo montage in the middle of the movie.

Gordon Parks, Jr. (son of Shaft director Gordon Parks) was working on a tight budget. According to the DVD and IMDb, the actor K.C. got a part in the film in exchange for the use of his Eldorado (prominently displayed throughout the movie). IMDb lists domestic rentals of $6.4 million. My guess is Warners made at least a 100x profit.

But classic movies—and this is a classic—are not normally judged on their technical merits, but by how they stand out in our memories. If you can get past the shoddy filmmaking, Superfly works on many levels. The dialogue, while unevenly delivered, is often convincing as jive talk, with favorite phrases like "bust a cap in your ass". While a movie whose drug pusher hero repeatedly sniffs cocaine on screen would not get wide release today, in 1972 this was what passed for a social consciousness film.

But the two most memorable parts of this movie are its outrageous clothes and its funky soundtrack. The actors sport pimpolicious fashions like bellbottoms, platform shoes, afros, porkchop sideburns, and colors that would blind a peacock. Curtis Mayfield created the soundtrack and sings with his band on film. Pusherman is a great theme song, and the funk guitar and conga drums set the rhythm for the movie (fans of the Beastie Boys will hear some familiar samples). It's even better than Isaac Hayes' Shaft score.

This movie is an amusing time capsule of 1972 camp, an inspiration to the likes of Quentin Tarantino and teenage boys everywhere. Either you're into this genre to begin with, or else it'll be a waste of your time.