A Raisin in the Sun
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Movie Reviews of A Raisin in the Sun
Movie Review: I can barely find the words...
Summary: 5 Stars
I just finished watching this spectacular movie, A Raisin In The Sun. My eyes are still moist from the tears...
I will not ruin your viewing of this spectacular piece of film by telling the story, but I will outline some facts:
This movie chronicles the basic dilemma of life which is: whether a person's skin is white, black, purple or green, a person wants to have dignity in their life and to have a place of their own to call home. That is the driving force behind this movie. Angst and drama is present on a daily basis as the characters discuss life, money, family and death. Metaphors and symbolism abound throughout the production. Even though the movie plays out primarily on one set (an apartment in the projects of Chicago), the viewer does not get the feeling of being closed in or claustrophoic. On the contrary, the dreams of the family are so big that they over-flow outside the walls of their small and dingy apartment.
Mama, (Claudia McNeal) who was the matriarch and the backbone of the family was my favorite character. She was unbelieveable! Her worry over her family was metaphored in the plant that she constantly fussed over. What an amazing woman.
Sidney Poitier was... I cannot find the words. His performance should have won him an oscar. He goes throughout the movie trying to find himself, but in the end he realizes what really matters.
The supporting cast was excellent. I cannot think of one negative thing to say about this movie. It was wonderful. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Movie Review: Best Poitier Performance Ever! (recommended)
Summary: 5 Stars
So much drama with very little props. Sibling spats are the best though, in typical Poitier fashion, he slaps someone and triumphs over racial oppression. This is one movie you'll want to watch enough times to memorize it. "Walter Lee Younger, it is time for you to GET UP and go to work!" "You're just a happy little woman this morning." "He's mad, boy." "In my mother's house there is still God." "Willie! Willie!?"Movie Review: "I am a giant, and I'm surrounded by ants."
Summary: 5 Stars
With perhaps the best cast ever assembled for this play, David Susskind's 1961 production of Raisin in the Sun is a classic film and a landmark achievement during the civil rights struggles of the early 1960s. Starring a young Sidney Poitier as Walter Lee, Claudia McNeil as his mother Lena Younger, Ruby Dee as his wife Ruth, and Diana Sands as his sister Beneatha, the film closely follows the script of the play, and director Daniel Petrie wisely confines the setting almost entirely to one room, as it is on stage. This intensifies the emotions and interactions of this three-generation family, which share a small, two-bedroom apartment in South Chicago, and makes their longing to break free obvious both visually and emotionally. Sidney Poitier as Walter Lee is the "giant...surrounded by ants" as he dreams of escaping his job as a chauffeur and investing in a liquor store. Poitier's body language and subtle gestures as he argues about how to spend his mother's ten thousand dollar life insurance check powerfully convey his anguish. The close-up of Poitier's slow transition from an insolent and angry young man to a tearful and repentant son in one scene with his mother is unforgettable. Claudia McNeil, as the mother, is stalwart, strong, and full of pride. Ruby Dee, as the devoted wife, trying to decide whether to have an abortion in order to lighten her husband's load, is simultaneously resolute and resigned. Diana Sands, as Beneatha, the agnostic medical student, reflecting the beginning of the "Roots" and "Black Power" movements, provides some comic relief as she practices African "home-from-the-hunt" dances.
At the heart of the play is the issue of discrimination against black people and the limitations on their dreams, and the filming in black and white is appropriate. The small dying houseplant that Lena nurtures remains the major symbol here, as it is in the play, but through the cinematography new symbols emerge. The kitchen cupboard door opens and shuts as family members open and shut themselves to each other and the outside world, and numerous scenes take place between two people with a door in the background, opening and closing as their emotions change. The film quality and its high contrast have withstood the test of time, the sound is good, and the acting, especially as revealed in the close-ups, makes this a classic film, better than any stage version I have ever seen or imagined. Mary Whipple
Movie Review: The human striving for the American Dream
Summary: 5 Stars
A Raisin In The Sun is the DVD recording of the on-screen adaptation of Lorraine Hansberry's classic stage play about black identity, starring Danny Glover and Emmy Award winner Esther Rolle. When a $10,000 insurance benefit generates dreams and squabbles in a Chicago ghetto family (the son yearns to start his own business while the mother longs to live in a house of her own), A Raisin In The Sun wonderfully captures the human striving for the American Dream and the realities confronting those who have grown up and lived their lives poor and disadvantaged. DVD extras include an about the author section, tidbits of information about the play and the cast, and more. 173 minutes, color, suitable for family viewing.Movie Review: The Best of Black Cinema
Summary: 5 Stars
This is acting at its best. Not only for African American Actorsand Actress,but for acting period. The story is based on the everyday struggles of a Black family. The story is based sometimes in the early 60ds or late 50ds but these struggles still go on today. As a black women in the struggle I related to every part of the story, not only do we get knocked down by the world as per say, but we also get knocked down by our own people.Black men try hard to find a way to take care of their families and sometimes things look better on the other side, as brother in the story does he trusts his friends because his mother trusts him and things go bad for him, but out of every thing bad comes something good, I don't want to tell the story for those who hasn't seen it, the family still go own to move on with their plans and whole their heads up high as they go on and that makes the struggle even better, as least the family still has their self worth and dignity. And as usual Momma the head of the family per say teaches them lesson and also teaches them a lesson in the lost that they experince. always keep your head up and never do anything to loose your self worth or your diginty. This is one movie that every black family shouid see. I recemmond it highley.!!!!! dean.r.m@worldnet.att.net.