Warner Bros. Pictures
About the Film
FBI informant William O’Neal (LaKeith Stanfield) infiltrates the Illinois Black Panther Party and is tasked with keeping tabs on their charismatic leader, Chairman Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya). A career thief, O’Neal revels in the danger of manipulating both his comrades and his handler, Special Agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons). Hampton’s political prowess grows just as he’s falling in love with fellow revolutionary Deborah Johnson (Dominique Fishback). Meanwhile, a battle wages for O’Neal’s soul. Will he align with the forces of good? Or subdue Hampton and The Panthers by any means, as FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover (Martin Sheen) commands? Judas and the Black Messiah made history this year by being the first film with an all-black producing team nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Picture category. Judas and the Black Messiah is nominated for six Academy Awards, for Best Picture, Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Daniel Kaluuya, LaKeith Stanfield), Cinematography (Sean Bobbitt), Original Song (‘Fight For You,’ music by H.E.R. and Dernst Emilie II, lyrics by H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas), and Original Screenplay (screenplay by Will Berson & Shaka King, story by Will Berson & Shaka King and Kenny Lucas & Keith Lucas). Kaluuya won the Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture, as well as the Oscar for Best Original Song.
Film Review
I have to admit I really didn’t know much about the Black Panthers. Growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, the only thing I really heard about them was on the news, and for the most part they were painted as terrorists who should be feared by people like me. So, for most of my life, while I’m not afraid of the Panthers, just hearing anything about them always triggers something in my mind that something bad has happened. The film tells the story of the founding of the group by Chairman Fred Hampton, and it’s told from a very specific viewpoint of the Black experience in America. Hampton was certainly a charismatic man, so much so that he was able to get others to join his group that you’d never expect, including White Supremacists. But they all had one thing in common: being oppressed by the country’s legal system. And they were all willing to work together to take a stand to defend their rights, even when they were taken from them time after time. Seeing all this as a white person, and seeing how things really haven’t changed (at least not for the Black community), carries with it a sense of shame. We’re all people. If we just accept that, then we can all get along and there wouldn’t be riots and protests. Let’s try to respect each other because even though we all have our differences, we all breathe the same air and bleed the same color. The film also details the good works the organization did in its communities, something that is often overlooked in many historical evaluations of the group (usually done by white people).
I don’t know why Daniel Kaluuya was placed in the Supporting Actor category for the various awards shows (although I suspect had something to do with Chadwick Boseman, and Kaluuya was more of a sure thing to win in the Supporting category) because he is the star. His performance is magnetic. LaKeith Stanfield, also in the Supporting category even though he’s just as much a lead as Kaluuya, has the harder job of not turning the audience completely against him for what he did to Chairman Fred. Stanfield lets us see the conflict in Bill O’Neal’s soul and making him a complicated villain was a tough job, and he did it. Dominique Fishback is also terrific as Deborah Johnson, the woman Hampton falls in love with, which also brings conflict into his plans. My only complaint is the grotesque make-up job on Martin Sheen as J. Edgar Hoover, which makes him look like Danny DeVito as the Penguin in Batman Returns. Other than that, it’s a well-acted, well-directed, well-written film with great production design and music. It’s well worth seeing, and might just educate you a bit.
The Blu-ray
There isn’t anything to fault with the Blu-ray’s video presentation … except that Warner Bros. has not offered a 4K release for physical media. You can purchase a digital 4K copy however (and Warners should give purchasers of the Blu-ray the 4K digital copy as well and not the standard HD version). The image perfectly captures a film look, and the color grading renders the image into an appropriate representation of a film from the 1960s and 70s. Some dark interiors with bright white background are very well-balanced so that the white light is never blown out and the black areas are a deep black. It just would have looked even better in 4K.
If you caught the film during its month-long run on HBO Max, the presentation it got there was 4K Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos audio. Here, the Blu-ray audio track is a standard DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix. The sound is fine, dialogue is clearly presented and the music or sound effects are balanced to not drown out anyone speaking. It’s just puzzling as to why Warner Bros. would cheap out on such a prestigious film. But there are no complaints with either the video or audio presentation.
Speaking of cheaping out, the Blu-ray contains just two short bonus featurettes:
- Fred Hampton for the People (9:19) – The filmmakers and cast discuss why telling Chairman Fred Hampton’s story is more important now than ever before.
- Unexpected Betrayal (7:47) – The filmmakers and cast discuss William O’Neil’s complexities and his eventual betrayal of Hampton. This includes more of the actual interview given by Bill O’Neal for PBS’ Eyes on the Prize II which is re-created briefly in the film.
Judas and the Black Messiah has a lot to recommend, from the history lesson about the Black Panthers to the performances of Kaluuya, Stanfield, Fishback and everyone else. I found it enlightening, even the short bonus material was interesting, and I certainly have a different outlook on the Panthers. Perhaps if I hear about them on the news again, I won’t feel that childhood trigger anymore.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment generously provided Hotchka with the Blu-ray for reviewing purposes.
Judas and the Black Messiah has a running time of 2 hours 6 minutes and is rated R for violence and pervasive language.
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