The 1970s is a decade known for its legendary cinema. Films like The Godfather, Dog Day Afternoon, Alien, Apocalypse Now, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest cemented themselves in history during this time period, sparking the careers of directors like Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola and creating the “blockbuster” as we know it. But one revolutionary piece of cinema, just as compelling as any of those household names, is conspicuously missing from the usual lists of ’70s classics. The Spook Who Sat by the Door, directed by Ivan Dixon in 1973, should be brought up every time someone speaks of the lasting impact of films from this era. Despite not being picked up by a major distributor, facing mountains of suppression from the FBI, and almost becoming completely lost before being converted to DVD, the film survived to become one of the most radical works in the history of Black cinema.
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A bit slow for today’s audiances, but still a good watch. Too bad that I don’t think a revolt can be done this way because of modern tech, but still useful to witness bold community deffence and the way the state would respond.
One sad aspect for today’s audiances to bear witness to is finding that the tale of the US murdering black people with impunity is a tale as old as the US itself, and not a mere modern development.