Yes No Maybe So: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Monday, October 19, 2020 at 11:17PM by Nathaniel R
Chadwick heading for a posthumous Oscar nod?
How about them songs I give you?
Netflix is trying the shotgun approach this year by releasing one buzzy potential Oscar contender after another. Perhaps they felt emboldened by landing two (The Irishman, Marriage Story) of the nine Best Picture nods last year and coming close to a third with The Two Popes. Of course no studio ever has only hits but they've already released Da 5 Bloods, i'm Thinking of Ending Things, The Boys in the Band, and Da 5 Bloods and still to come are The Prom, The Life Ahead, Pieces of a Woman, The Midnight Sky, Hillbilly Elegy, and tonight's topic: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom so they'll probably do well this year with an overall nomination tally. How many actual Best Picture contenders is a more difficult question.
About Ma Rainey...
Denzel Washington plans to produce film versions of August Wilson's entire Pittsburgh Cycle (10 plays about the African-American experience, each set in a different decade of the 20th century). He started with Fences, which was Best Picture nominated for 2016, and now we have the second in the planned series, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.
August Wilson's cycle wasn't written in chronological order and Denzel isn't producing them in that order either. They arrived from Wilson like so (we've included their big prizes for awards history fun)...
- Jitney (Tony Award, Olivier Award, NY Drama Critics Circle, Outer Critics)
- Ma Rainey... (Tony Nominee, NY Drama Critics Circle)
- Fences (Pulitzer, Tony Award, Drama Desk, Outer Critics)
- Joe Turner... (Tony Nominee)
- The Piano Lesson (Pulitzer, Tony Nominee, Drama Desk, NY Drama Critics Circle)
- Two Trains Running (Tony Nominee, American Theatre Critics, NY Drama Critics Circle)
- Seven Guitars (Tony Nominee, NY Drama Critics Circle)
- King Hedley II (Tony Nominee)
- Gem of the Ocean (Tony Nominee)
- Radio Golf (Tony Nominee)
But if you put them in decade chronology they'd go like so
- Gem of the Ocean (1900s)
- Joe Turner's Come and Gone (1910s)
- Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1920s)
- The Piano Lesson (1930s)
- Seven Guitars (1940s)
- Fences (1950s)
- Two Trains Running (1960s)
- Jitney (1970s)
- King Hedley II (1980s)
- Radio Golf (1990s)
Who knows what order Denzel will produce them? We hope he hurries though because if he waits four years between each as he did between Fences and Ma Rainey he'll literally be 98 years old by the time the last one rolls around.
At any rate let's do the Yes No Maybe So...
YES
This'd be an empty world without the blues
- Chadwick Boseman's final performance and it looks like a keeper. And from this early look, it looks like his film, too (it's worth noting that, despite the title, this is usually the most-lauded role for actors in productions of Ma Rainey)
- We'll always be eager-eyed for a new Viola Davis performance. It's impossible to know from a trailer (2 minute edited clipreels are no subsitute for actual 2 hour performances) but it looks like she's pushing herself and delivering up the goods in a different way. Yay!
- The costumes by the Tony & Oscar winning legend Ann Roth look delicious. Curiously despite the fact that Ann Roth has been the costume designer of 106 (!!!) Broadway shows she's never done an August Wilson. Viola Davis gained a lot of weight for the part but Ma Rainey was much bigger so how many tricks did Ann Roth have to do for the costumes?
- Can we start a Colman Domingo Appreciation Club? Who will join us?! He deserves a breakout movie role.
- Glad that Denzel Washington isn't going to direct all of these. He's such a genius actor but those are different skill sets. it would be wonderful if this series gave showy opportunities to multiple talented black directors.
NO
- Today is not December 18th.
MAYBE SO
- What's going on with the vocals? We assume Viola is lipsynching or dubbed. But it would be even more satisfying if she somehow also was hiding a genius vocalist talent among her many gifts.
- We'll be curious to see what the various department heads bring to the table. A lot of solid players who haven't quite broken out into being superstars in their field and/or Oscar nominees. Will this picture be the one to do it? Tobias A Schliessler is the cinematographer. His best looking film to date is surely Dreamgirls (2006) so this should give him another chance to step up his game. Mark Ricker is the production designer. Oscar arguably stiffed him for a nomination for The Help. This is his third picture with Viola and second with Boseman (he also did The Help and Get On Up). The editor is Andrew Mondsheim who was nominated a long time ago now for The Sixth Sense (1999). Music-oriented films can be a blessing for craftspeople in terms of awards play. We shall see?
- Director George C Wolfe. He's an undisputed legend of the stage but can he make a movie sing? His two previous films (You're Not You and Nights in Rodanthe) didn't get people excited though he had more success directing for television (Lackawanna Blues).
How eager are you to see this?
Reader Comments (34)
100% YES!!!! Cannot wait for this.
And yeah, this does surprisingly look like the Chadwick Boseman show. Maybe a posthumous nomination (or win?) is not out of the question. Viola looks great as always. The production design and costumes are definitely eye-catching too.
I’m curious to see the reaction to this trailer compared to the other recent Netflix trailer. For me, I’m a yes for the material but a maybe-so on this trailer which feels effortful and lacking a lightness this play should have. Viola in particular seems to be doing more ACTING of Ma than really embodying the character of Ma. But to be seen, I suppose, what comes of it.
yes please and thank you
It’s hard to tell from a trailer but ... the voice, makeup and body suit all seem off.
The trailer looks very strong and promising. Seeing Chadwick just brings me to tears. He looks a shoo-in for an Oscar nod. Viola, on the other hand, is as always terrific. I can't wait.
Curious to see what the Rami Malek/Bohemian Rhapsody naysayers think about the (very obvious) lip-synched singing and the fake teeth! Chadwick Boseman is the standout for me and it looks like a leading part!
i think the film itself might be good, but much like that Hillbilly trailer from Netflix, the trailer here makes the film look...not good. right now it looks like no cliche is left unturned, which is so not what August Wilson is about. and Viola looks like she's put a lot of acting in her acting. probably will deliver in context, but that trailer looks shaky.
I díd not expect at all this movie to be the Chadwick Boseman show I never knew I really needed. As for Viola Davis, glad to see her making a musical, but I'm still waiting her for a comedy. I'm dying to see her in a Nancy Mayer's film like.
I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love with.....Oscar winning actor Chadwick Boseman!
EricB, remember that a Viola Lead Actress trophy makes her also a member of 'The Inevitables', despite already being an Oscar winner.
This trailer looks good for Chadwick but not for Viola. I had the imoression she's overperforming, of course we cannot judge by the trailer but it seems to me this is her worst performance. Chadwick is very good though.
I saw the revival of "Ma Rainey" at the Mark Taper in LA last year so I'm ready to see this movie. With a great cast involved and George C Wolfe at the helm, this should be something to see.
Oh Hell Yeah.
Looks good all around. The interior shots look vintage enough for me. I have been listening to the classic blues of the 1920s and 1930s and I want to see and listen more of these blues from this film. Ma Rainey's 'primitive' recordings make me think the speed was not captured right by the sound recordists but the small clips here make me think that that's how they probably sounded then (oh to be a fly in the wall when Robert Johnson and Bessie Smith recorded their songs). I have not been lucky to see it in 2003 when it played on Broadway with Whoopi as Ma Rainey.
This looks like Two Oscar Winners kind of film to me! Chadwick will be nominated in either category and a win is looking very likely (supporting will be easy). Looks like Netflix is pushing him for Lead, which I think it’s doable for a win as well.
The trailer's cut like the Chadwick Boseman show, which would be a fitting final tribute for him. He also seems lead to me. Sad knowing how sick he was while filming this, yet it looks like he delivered brilliantly. I think that a posthumous Oscar nomination is surely coming. As for Viola Davis, that's a whole lot of acting going on. Might be a divisive performance for her. Yes for the film, but I wish the trailer didn't look so closed in and cheap.
@Nathaniel: Is there a handy guide for "release" dates for the fall/winter films? I'm at a loss because usually at the theaters by now!
Looks a bit too much like it adheres to the Netflix in house style guide (glossy and over-lit), but I'll definitely watch it. Like, that's not even a question.
Like Nathaniel, I am really curious to know if Viola's doing her own singing. If so, it is so impressive. Does anyone know?
I am a definite yes either way.
Intrigued definitely.
I'd give Viola one more role in these adaptations in King Hedley, but then, let's give other great Black actresses some chance. Aunjanue Ellis or Niecy Nash would kill for these roles.
If the film mirrors the play, Boseman going Supporting will be Davis in FENCES-level category fraud.
Beyond Boseman, I don't think this looks very good at all. I'm a No.
I was on the fence but it looks amazing.
Hey Nathaniel I am pretty sure I read from a Denzel interview that the next play they are adapting is the Piano Lesson and he is hoping Barry Jenkins directs! So like you said I really hope they rotate through some great Black Directors.
This whole article has me wondering whatever happened to Charles S. Dutton. Has he retired? One of his most recent roles was Pa Rainey to Mo'Nique's Emmy nominated Ma Rainey in Bessie, but he doesn't seem to be connected with this project at all, despite playing Levee in both the original and the revival on Broadway and playing Boy Willie in the Broadway production and TV movie version of The Piano Lesson, which I think was the only filmed version of an August Wilson play before Washington got started. And I am surprised that Toni-Leslie James wasn't brought on to do the costumes, as she was the costume designer for the Broadway revival, as well as for Jitney, the most recent August Wilson play to run on Broadway.
Netflix has near monopoly over films that audiences actually will see so they can afford to be bold, their films won’t disappear from discussion this year.
I wasn’t impressed by Davis’s delivery on dialogue and I wanted see more Boseman (it’s sad how thin he looks here). The production design looks amazing.
A yes for me, too.
Now this one is a hit. Knockut performances and direction. It will be hard to beat Chadwick for this especially if they successfully get him in supporting (though he is the lead) and Viola is absolutely getting nominated. A different and incredible performance from her.
I'm a yes for Boseman and Wilson (and maybe Viola - the character is outsized, so she's probably just adapting to that), though I always feel like stage-to-film adaptations (outside of Shakespeare) are tough.
Also, it's on my bucket list to watch all of August Wilson's plays on stage - I'm currently at 6 out of 10 - but Ma Rainey's is one I've yet to see and I'd have preferred to see it on stage before seeing it on screen. However, since it's highly unlikely I'll be seeing anything on stage any time soon (sniffle), I guess I will make an exception.
Feel like they’d Category Fraud ‘the departed’ Chadwick into Supporting and it would be crickets...
I would also love to see Denzel hire some great black directors for the cycle. Would love a Kasi Lemmons take on GEM OF THE OCEAN or maybe Gina Prince-Bythewood's KING HEDLEY II. It's really a shame that John Singleton passed before getting a crack at one. (If someone on the Film Experience's staff has a comprehensive knowledge of the plays, I'd certainly be interested in a feature pairing different black potential directors with the remaining plays in the cycle.)
A recent NYT article on MA RAINEY says Denzel is already at work on THE PIANO LESSON, in talks with Barry Jenkins to direct and hopefully featuring Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington. He's quoted in the same article as saying “The greatest part of what’s left of my career is making sure that August is taken care of,” so it sounds like he's on top of it.
Looks amazing!! Viola didn’t gain weight, she said in an interview, months ago, that she wore a fat suit.
This looks great. I think Viola and Chadwick will be nominated easily, whatever category they go for. Chadwick will definitely be in the running for the win, which I called as soon as I heard he was in this right after he passed.
As long as it's good it'll be nominated for more than just acting too.
Viola is definitely ~*AcTiNg*~ but I know she'll rock it... it does make me curious who else could've gotten this role and what they could've done with it. Especially someone thicker, and/or someone who can sing. As someone else said, I'd be ok with her also getting King Hedley, but after that, I'd like to see these juicy roles going to other black actresses who are deserving but maybe aren't getting these calls constantly.
Netflix just made it official. Chadwick Boseman is going lead. Supporting would have been a easy run. Lead win won't happen against Anthony Hopkins. Sad.