tapestry-0 I saw one review on this twisted history movie and had to say something. I lived in this era, I saw the Black Panthers kill a lot of people.I lived in Oakland I saw them burning buildings for no reason except they didn't like the school or the people. I saw them beating up teachers who were trying to help them. The only people killed by these so called 'civilians' were other civilians. The hate was incredible, Oakland turned from a thriving metropolis to a town of empty stores, with newspapers flying in the streets. My whole family lived there my Grandparents were born there and my folks, the town was decent it was full of hard working people. Then the haters moved in and started destroying everything. The city did not help they torn down the Victorian homes that were solid and built slums that had rats within 30 days of occupation because the garbage was everywhere. I saw a whole city implode by shooting and gangs the panthers were just one of many; they were just more talked about than the rest. Anyone who thinks the government was wrong helping the Vietnamese people get away from communist aggression didn't hear the cries for help from them when their cities were destroyed and the people killed in the thousands. We lost only because Congress wouldn't let the military do their job and complete their mission. I know many people from south east Asia that would love to go back to their country if they could worship the way they wanted to without being harassed by the communist regime. Communism isn't pretty! people also forget that the era was full of drugs and immorality it wasn't good and didn't do anything to advance civilization in fact I think it went back a few steps! Docudramas are the bargain basement of movies they take 10 percent real history and 90 percent baloney and everyone thinks it really happened that way! Don't waste your time!

Turfseer One of the problems with many of the indie films out today is that the screenwriters have a great deal of trouble developing an organic, inter-connected plot. I'm pleased to report that Tanya Hamilton, writer/director of 'Night Catches Us', the new inner city drama set in 1976 Philadelphia, has no such problem. What's particularly impressive about Ms. Hamilton's skill as a screenwriter, is that she's able to juggle a multitude of characters, connecting them at the same time to a story that spans over a decade in time. Even better, Hamilton has a prescient, balanced view of race relations in America. She doesn't take sides and adroitly points out both the strengths and shortcomings of the various players on each side of the racial divide.Hamilton's clever plot revolves around the return of former Black Panther, Marcus Washington (played by Anthony Mackie, in an excellent, understated performance), to his old neighborhood. Marcus is not your typical knight in shining armor protagonist, as he has a checkered past, having just gotten out of prison for selling guns. His father, a successful preacher has just passed away, and his brother Bostic, now a Black Muslim, regards Marcus as a troublemaker, and bars him from staying at the family home, which has just been willed to him. Marcus has even bigger problems with his old Panther buddies, particularly 'DoRight', now a gang leader, who calls him a 'snitch' and blames him for the death of an old Panther buddy, killed by the police. It seems that DoRight's buddy was married to Patricia, who Marcus was involved with years earlier.Patricia is also a complex character. She's now an activist attorney for the black community and is raising her nine year old daughter, Iris, on her own. She can't say no to her ne'er-do-well brother, Jimmy, who collects and sells cans to survive and also has a big chip on his shoulder toward the police. Along with Jimmy, Patricia now invites Marcus to also stay in her house; as a result, her live-in boyfriend packs his bags and leaves. At first, Patricia will not tell Iris anything about what happened to her father but eventually it's revealed that after murdering a cop in retaliation for the murder of two Black Panthers, he was given up by Marcus to the police in order to prevent Patricia from being arrested and Iris taken into the foster care system.The plot thickens when Jimmy picks a fight with some cops and Marcus and Iris are on the scene witnessing the confrontation. Before that incident escalates, DoRight's henchmen fire shots at Marcus from a passing car; the police, believing they are under fire, chase the henchmen in their patrol car. As a result of this incident, a black detective, David Gordon, approaches Marcus and wants him to plant a gun at a bar where DoRight hangs out. In Hamilton's view, it's not only the white cops who are capable of resorting to illegal means to enforce the law. During this scene in which Gordon approaches Marcus, he also reveals that it was actually Patricia who gave up her husband years ago and not Marcus. Marcus opts not to plant the gun and informs DoRight of the police plot.Just as Patricia recognized that her husband had to pay for his crimes a decade earlier, she comes to agree with Marcus that Jimmy is full or rage and needs to leave the home. Jimmy, now enamored with the Black Panthers after reading some old comic books about the Panthers that Marcus gave to Iris as a present, decides to take revenge on a white cop that harassed him. Jimmy buys a gun and shoots the cop while he's sitting in his patrol car. Patricia's home is invaded by cops during the manhunt for the cop's killer and Marcus is roughed up. Eventually, the police find Jimmy hiding in some bushes and kill him. The film ends with Marcus getting a new job out of state and leaving, as Patricia is unable to turn her back on her commitments to the community in Philadelphia.Instead of resorting to flashbacks to explain the back story, Hamilton intersperses film clips from the 60s, giving us a taste of the atmosphere engendered with the rise of the Black Panther movement. The excesses of law enforcement are duly noted, especially when it's revealed that Patricia has been the subject of FBI surveillance. As noted above, the police are prone to use excessive force whether provoked or not. Hamilton also doesn't shy away from pointing out the scourge of black on black violence, which is relevant to our own times.If the film has any shortcomings, it might be the decision to shoot it, in what appears to be high definition. I would have preferred to see the action shot on film stock or with a lens that recreates the era in which the film takes place. Even though this was supposed to be 1976 Philadelphia, it just didn't appear that we were watching scenes from that era. And it seemed rather abrupt how Jimmy shoots the police officer and then is killed in turn. I would have imagined that he might have hooked up with others before deciding to kill the officer or at least formulated some kind of plan of escape. I suppose we'll have to be satisfied with the explanation that this was an impulsive act of a mentally unbalanced young man. Finally, what happened to the investigation of the DoRight shooting? Do the police simply allow Marcus to leave after he fails to plant the gun?I've seen quite a number of independent films nominated for a Spirit Award so far this year, and I must say that 'Night Catches Us' is one of the stronger entries. I hope the powers that be in the film industry take notice of Tanya Hamilton whose considerable talent should be promoted by them in the future.

chuck-526 "Night Catches Us" is the best art-house film I've seen in several months. In fact it bests a lot of the current main-screen fare. It deserves better than the quiet and uneven release it seems destined for.I saw it back-to-back with the Oscar contender "The King's Speech". It balanced the double bill reasonably well. Although "The King's Speech" is of course superior, the comparison wasn't simply ridiculous.I saw it twice ...which I often do with films I really like, as I tend to miss too many things the first time.It's not moralistic. Both sides of survival vs. justice, violence vs. pacifism, united front vs. paranoia, victims vs. victimizers, and this generation vs. the next generation are portrayed sympathetically. Although at first glance one particular style of being seems to be being touted over the others, just a little reflection reveals that the film actually revels in moral ambiguity. Some characters manage to stay on the good side of the respectability line at all times, even while their inner demons are picked up and expressed -sometimes in socially unacceptable ways- by others around them. The camera notices more latent contradictions than the story ever delves into. For example the reverend was apparently beloved by the neighborhood, yet also lived in by far the finest house in the whole area.The film isn't a polemic and doesn't seem to consciously attempt to portray cops in a bad light. Yet it doesn't shy away from sketches of substantial police bad attitude and violence."Night Catches Us" makes liberal use of art-house stylistic conventions. For example the confused, tangled, and partially submerged thoughts of a character are portrayed not by talking about them or even by seeing them in action, but by long leisurely shots from underneath of the crossed branches of overgrown vegetation. For another example, a character's longing for stability and tranquility is portrayed by lengthy shots of the proverbial babbling brook.I wasn't irritated by the pacing. The film is by no means an action flick or a taut thriller, but I didn't find it like watching paint dry either. I tend to like slower paced films anyway (which of course doesn't mean everybody else will too:-). The most similarly paced movie that comes to mind is Clint Eastood's recent "Hereafter"; if you thought that was impossibly slow you'll probably have the same reaction to "Night Catches Us", but if that character exposition and portrayal of small events grabbed you this likely will too.All the action takes place over just a few days in 1976. A block of important events that happened about a decade earlier is described mainly through bits of dialog. There are no visual flashbacks nor dream sequences (except of course for the occasional interspersed archival Black Panthers footage).I found the acting quite good. It doesn't bowl you over as the greatest thing you've seen in years; but it's by no means "just workmanlike". Quite often meaning is communicated not by dialog but by subtle body language or facial expressions, which the actors seem fully up to. Both the individual characters and the chemistry between the characters are believably convincing.I found the situation (or plot if you prefer to think of it that way) simple and complex at the same time. It's simple in that once you finally grasp it you can describe the whole thing in one short paragraph, and in that if you're one of those people who instantly "get" most movie clues you might be able to divine the whole thing well in advance. On the other hand it's complex in that it's revealed only one tiny bit at a time -sometimes in dialog and sometimes visually- so the whole movie can become a "mystery" to be solved if that's your preference.

gradyharp NIGHT CATCHES US is a gripping film that reminds us of the importance of the Black Panther Movement. Historical distance and changes in this country may have numbed the memory of a social movement as an important racial equality step and the very words 'Black Panther' are unfortunately tainted with the radical ugly aspects. But Tanya Hamilton has written and directed this compelling movie NIGHT CATCHES US and hopefully the core meaning of the movement will gain respect in the minds of those fortunate to see this brilliant little film. In order to help those who are unfamiliar with this movement a brief history may help appreciate this film. 'The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self- Defense) was an African-American revolutionary leftist organization. It was active in the United States from the mid-1960s into the 1970s. The Black Panther Party achieved national and international impact through their deep involvement in the Black Power movement and in US politics of the 1960s and 70s, as the intense anti-racism of the time is today considered one of the most significant social, political and cultural currents in US history. The group's "provocative rhetoric, militant posture, and cultural and political flourishes permanently altered the contours of American Identity. Founded in Oakland, California, by Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton on October 15, 1966, the organization initially set forth a doctrine calling primarily for the protection of African American neighborhoods from police brutality. But the Black Panther Party's objectives and philosophy expanded and evolved rapidly during the party's existence. The organization's leaders passionately espoused socialist and communist (largely Maoist) doctrines, but the Party's black nationalist reputation attracted an ideologically diverse membership. Ideological consensus within the party was difficult to achieve, and some prominent members openly disagreed with the views of the leaders.' The year is 1976 and Marcus Washington (Anthony Mackie, in a brilliant role) returns to Philadelphia after serving a jail term. He is without a job or place to stay and his father has just died, leaving the old family house to his brother who has sold it. Marcus sees his old friend Pattie -now Patricia - Wilson (Kerry Washington, likewise in a moving performance) who had been married to and had a child Iris (Jamara Griffin) by his best friend who was brutally murdered by the police in his own home. Marcus' arrival in the neighborhood (essentially unchanged from the height of the Black Panther days) and branded a 'Snitch' by his old friends: they believe Marcus informed the police of his friend's killing of a police officer and blame his friend's death on him. Patricia is now a lawyer and spends her days defending young black men and her time off supplying food and shelter to the parentless children of the neighborhood. Her nephew Jimmy (Amari Cheatom) has inherited the anger of the past and Patricia must frequently bail him out of jail for arrests for 'verbal abuse' of police officers. Though Patricia has a live-in lawyer boyfriend Carey Ford (Ron Simons) who helps her in her drive to better the lives of the neighborhood, once Patricia and Marcus rekindle their past friendship (and more), Carey moves out and Marcus moves in. Together Marcus and Patricia share the cause of the death of Iris' father with the bright young girl, an incident that draws the three of them closer. But old hates still exist and the bloody aspects of the Panther Movement appear to rekindle because of Marcus' presence. Marcus is approached by a black police captain Wendell Pierce (David Gordon) to infiltrate Marcus major enemy 'Do Right' Miller (Jamie Hector), but Marcus sees through the age old struggle between the neighborhood and the police, remembers the anguish of the past, and refuses to carry out the planting of evidence. After a scene of the Truth in the retelling of the history of Iris' father's murder - Patricia and Marcus finally face the past - and Marcus moves on. To give more details of the story would distract from the power of the message. This is a movie that simply should be seen to put that period of time in perspective. The cast is particularly fine, not only Mackie and Washington, but also the young and very talented Amari Cheatom among others. One wonders why the sound track doesn't reflect the music from that period, instead using contemporary rap music, but that is a very small defect in an otherwise VERY fine film. Grady Harp