1052 Claudine

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DarkImbecile
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Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 6:24 pm
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1052 Claudine

#1 Post by DarkImbecile » Wed Jul 15, 2020 12:48 pm

1052 Claudine

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Diahann Carroll is radiant in an unforgettable, Oscar-nominated performance as Claudine, a strong-willed single mother, raising six kids in Harlem, whose budding relationship with a gregarious garbage collector (an equally fantastic James Earl Jones) is stressed by the difficulty of getting by in an oppressive system. As directed by the formerly blacklisted leftist filmmaker John Berry, this romantic comedy with a social conscience deftly balances warm humor with a serious look at the myriad issues—from cycles of poverty to the indignities of the welfare system—that shape its characters’ realities. The result is an empathetic chronicle of both Black working-class struggle and Black joy, a bittersweet, bighearted celebration of family and community set to a sunny soul soundtrack composed by Curtis Mayfield and performed by Gladys Knight & the Pips.

SPECIAL FEATURES
  • New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • Audio commentary from 2003 featuring actors Diahann Carroll, James Earl Jones, and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs; filmmaker George Tillman Jr.; and Dan Pine, son of screenwriters Lester Pine and Tina Pine
  • New conversation on the film between filmmaker Robert Townsend and programmer Ashley Clark
  • Illustrated audio excerpts from a 1974 AFI Harold Lloyd Master Seminar featuring Carroll
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
    PLUS: An essay by critic Danielle A. Jackson
New illustration and design by Alphaville

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zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: 1052 Claudine

#2 Post by zedz » Wed Jul 15, 2020 5:05 pm

I only know of this film from the Curtis Mayfield soundtrack. Has anybody seen it and is able to comment?

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Aunt Peg
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2012 5:30 am

Re: 1052 Claudine

#3 Post by Aunt Peg » Wed Jul 15, 2020 8:17 pm

I saw the film over 20 years ago and its utterly forgettable. This is one of the biggest head scratcher releases ever from Criterion.

mteller
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:23 pm

Re: 1052 Claudine

#4 Post by mteller » Thu Jul 16, 2020 11:39 am

I saw it yesterday, actually had coincidentally started it before the Criterion announcement. Excellent performances from the leads, some very funny bits, solid social commentary and a unique take on the rom com. And a killer soundtrack. Having said that, not sure it's a movie I would buy, but I'm considering it.

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The Curious Sofa
Joined: Fri Sep 13, 2019 6:18 am

Re: 1052 Claudine

#5 Post by The Curious Sofa » Thu Jul 16, 2020 12:57 pm

I saw this several times on tv in the 70s and 80s and remember really liking it, especially for the performances. I haven't seen it since. Would be tempted check this out again to see how it holds up.

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Professor Wagstaff
Joined: Tue Aug 24, 2010 11:27 pm

Re: 1052 Claudine

#6 Post by Professor Wagstaff » Thu Jul 16, 2020 3:51 pm

Claudine was previously only available as a Fox pan & scan DVD. I'm excited as I've been holding off seeing it waiting for it to get a proper release.


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Finch
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
Location: Edinburgh, UK

Re: 1052 Claudine

#8 Post by Finch » Mon Sep 28, 2020 7:57 pm


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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: 1052 Claudine

#9 Post by knives » Tue Mar 23, 2021 4:36 pm

I’m surprised there isn’t an extra on the soundtrack specifically as that would seem to be a major selling point.

The film itself is formed from fluff to reach a deep point. An elegantly told women’s picture which aims to be an expert in genre execution and mostly succeeds. Admittedly Jones’ aggressive put ons weren’t for me leaving me uncomfortable at first, but even those work well to build the character relationships quickly.

What commentary there is to the film seems a necessary component to making a film set with these characters. The film is more of a class commentary than a racial one although race informs how class is represented. I was reminded heavily of Ritt’s masterful Black Orchid which this has a lot in common with.

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: 1052 Claudine

#10 Post by therewillbeblus » Fri May 21, 2021 10:38 am

knives wrote:
Tue Mar 23, 2021 4:36 pm
An elegantly told women’s picture which aims to be an expert in genre execution and mostly succeeds. Admittedly Jones’ aggressive put ons weren’t for me leaving me uncomfortable at first, but even those work well to build the character relationships quickly.
The film really succeeds by how it gently pushes us to read between the lines- I too was confused by the initial scene of their encounter, after Jones reacts rather cruelly and Carroll responds with enhanced attraction. However, it soon becomes clear through the peripheries of her own role within her social context that Carroll is less repelled by the surface level of Jones' words compared to seeing the value in his strong-willed self-advocacy to his white boss attempting to tell him how to do his job. It's a great study of hierarchical morals in a population that doesn't have the luxury of being self-righteously triggered by every cold word thrown their way, and gradually prompts us to open our minds to all the diverse strengths we miss in the process of such rigid judgments, born from privilege with the consequence of missing opportunities for resilient attitudes.

So the film becomes a unique rom-com, at least for me as a white viewer, taught to consume many genre entries with less flexible superficial boundaries for the protagonists to concoct problems. The film also doubles as a raw microcosmic social problem drama, painting a multidimensional portrait of systemic barriers to the family unit that are not only sourced in the external modalities of oppression, but from within the family. The universality of love is explored in the blurry line of protective vs restrictive interventions, the strengths and barriers of collectivist cultures, which threaten to dissemble under the provocations of socioeconomic violations that coerce assimilation away from the ethos in cultural affinity and towards anglo-individualism. The social worker's double-standard solipsism coupled with the daughter's sexual exploration in back-to-back scenes quickly introduce new problems that help redefine the pressure mounting on all sides, both suffocating and intimately joining family members. It's a very impressive film that uses traditional narrative form to slowly acclimate us to a world that becomes increasingly complex. Of course it is, but rarely is a film so creatively accessible in assembling inclusive avenues for foreigners to enter its milieu.

The way the film ends is not fantasy but emblematic of conditioned resilience. While I mostly agree with knives that it's primarily posing as a class commentary, I couldn't help but believe that the racial signifier of forced lifelong coping skills beyond economic disparities is what supported an ironic and bizarre 'happy' ending (in contrast to the consequential events yet earned through attitude). Too many white class-meditation films would and have ended in devastation without the elastic instinct to reframe hardship into gratitude, as both a necessary defense mechanism and an opportunity for grace.

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