JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
****
Director: Shaka King
Screenplay: Shaka King & Will Berson, based on a story by King & Berson and Kenny Lucas & Keith Lucas.
Principal cast:
Daniel Kaluuya
LaKeith Stanfield
Jesse Plemons
Dominique Fishback
Ashton Sanders
Martin Sheen
Country: USA
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 126 mins.
Australian release date: 11 March 2021.
The USA in the late-1960s was a time of dichotomy, dysfunction and social upheaval. As Charles Dickens wrote of an earlier revolution, “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times”, a period when the younger generation was at war with the older one, that of their parents. Students and young people of all colours and persuasions looked at the policies of their government and didn’t like what they saw: the US involvement in the Vietnam War, the rise of Richard Nixon, the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., the inherent racism of mainstream society regarding people of colour, the treatment of women, and much more. Youth was railing against the constraints of a rigid society and they wanted change. Out of this cultural maelstrom sprang many movements dedicated to fomenting that change, not least among them the Black Panther Party, an organisation that formed in 1966 to improve the lives of African-Americans. J. Edgar Hoover, the head of the FBI, described it as "the greatest threat to the internal security of the country" and was fixated on its destruction. One of the Panthers’ charismatic young leaders was Fred Hampton, who headed up the Illinois Chapter of the party; Shaka King’s film Judas And The Black Messiah tells the tragic story of his betrayal and death at the hands of the FBI.
The film begins in 1989 with LaKeith Stansfield portraying Bill O’Neal, a petty criminal who infiltrated the Black Panthers, being interviewed for a television documentary. As he starts to talk, we are transported back to 1968 and we see how this conman and thief was turned by the FBI when he was busted for impersonating a bureau officer (the screenwriters have used a bit of licence here). Facing down a lengthy prison sentence, he is convinced by Agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons) that, if he inveigles his way into the heart of the Chicago Panthers, the threat of gaol will disappear. O’Neal is something of a chameleon and, before long, he is working in close proximity to Hampton, played here by the British actor Daniel Kaluuya. King shows us what an extraordinary orator Hampton was, a man with a withering gaze and the power to capture the rapt attention of a roomful of varied people. His speaking ability was his greatest gift, and the one that most frightened law and order, because he was able to unify white rednecks, Black gangs, Puerto Ricans and working-class African-Americans into a ‘Rainbow Coalition’ that collectively wanted more from their government. The film reveals how O’Neal’s infiltration allowed the FBI to bring about a violent end to Hampton’s eloquence and throw the nascent coalition into disarray. Hampton was 21 when he died from gunshot wounds in December 1969.
Not only does Judas And The Black Messiah inform the audience about a dark chapter in US history via its enthralling screenplay, it features a masterclass in acting talent. Kaluuya and Stanfield play their contrasting characters with the utmost conviction. Kaluuya bulked up to play Hampton, an intelligent man fired by the injustices he saw all around him and railing against them almost in the manner of a preacher addressing his congregation from the pulpit, while O’Neal’s smarts came from the streets, his survival his sole concern. King and Berson’s script treats this Judas almost sympathetically, showing how impressed he was by being invited to the home of the agent running him and being taken to a fancy restaurant for a steak. These things mark him as a man who has grown up in poverty, with little education, and Stanfield perfectly captures his blank ambivalence to the subterfuge in which he’s enmeshed. He should have been ripe for conversion to the Panthers’ cause but somehow the message seemed to wash over him, despite his elevation to the position of Hampton’s chief of security. Jesse Plemons is a terrific character actor and its easy to believe him as Agent Roy Mitchell - he’s the very embodiment of the archetypal FBI man - and Martin Sheen is almost unrecognisable as Hoover; he looks monstrous, presumably by design. Dominique Fishback is a revelation as Deborah Johnson, a young woman who works in the office of the Panthers and who develops a romantic relationship with Hampton. The scene where she takes the lead in romancing the surprisingly shy Fred is a delight.
Judas And The Black Messiah is a powerful movie that, while reflecting on the past, carries a message that is relevant to modern-day viewers. It throws a light, regrettably, on how little has changed since the Sixties; think of the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the police and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. King’s film shows us that the past is not so distant from the present. And a note: stay for the credits.
Screenplay: Shaka King & Will Berson, based on a story by King & Berson and Kenny Lucas & Keith Lucas.
Principal cast:
Daniel Kaluuya
LaKeith Stanfield
Jesse Plemons
Dominique Fishback
Ashton Sanders
Martin Sheen
Country: USA
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 126 mins.
Australian release date: 11 March 2021.
The USA in the late-1960s was a time of dichotomy, dysfunction and social upheaval. As Charles Dickens wrote of an earlier revolution, “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times”, a period when the younger generation was at war with the older one, that of their parents. Students and young people of all colours and persuasions looked at the policies of their government and didn’t like what they saw: the US involvement in the Vietnam War, the rise of Richard Nixon, the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., the inherent racism of mainstream society regarding people of colour, the treatment of women, and much more. Youth was railing against the constraints of a rigid society and they wanted change. Out of this cultural maelstrom sprang many movements dedicated to fomenting that change, not least among them the Black Panther Party, an organisation that formed in 1966 to improve the lives of African-Americans. J. Edgar Hoover, the head of the FBI, described it as "the greatest threat to the internal security of the country" and was fixated on its destruction. One of the Panthers’ charismatic young leaders was Fred Hampton, who headed up the Illinois Chapter of the party; Shaka King’s film Judas And The Black Messiah tells the tragic story of his betrayal and death at the hands of the FBI.
The film begins in 1989 with LaKeith Stansfield portraying Bill O’Neal, a petty criminal who infiltrated the Black Panthers, being interviewed for a television documentary. As he starts to talk, we are transported back to 1968 and we see how this conman and thief was turned by the FBI when he was busted for impersonating a bureau officer (the screenwriters have used a bit of licence here). Facing down a lengthy prison sentence, he is convinced by Agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons) that, if he inveigles his way into the heart of the Chicago Panthers, the threat of gaol will disappear. O’Neal is something of a chameleon and, before long, he is working in close proximity to Hampton, played here by the British actor Daniel Kaluuya. King shows us what an extraordinary orator Hampton was, a man with a withering gaze and the power to capture the rapt attention of a roomful of varied people. His speaking ability was his greatest gift, and the one that most frightened law and order, because he was able to unify white rednecks, Black gangs, Puerto Ricans and working-class African-Americans into a ‘Rainbow Coalition’ that collectively wanted more from their government. The film reveals how O’Neal’s infiltration allowed the FBI to bring about a violent end to Hampton’s eloquence and throw the nascent coalition into disarray. Hampton was 21 when he died from gunshot wounds in December 1969.
Not only does Judas And The Black Messiah inform the audience about a dark chapter in US history via its enthralling screenplay, it features a masterclass in acting talent. Kaluuya and Stanfield play their contrasting characters with the utmost conviction. Kaluuya bulked up to play Hampton, an intelligent man fired by the injustices he saw all around him and railing against them almost in the manner of a preacher addressing his congregation from the pulpit, while O’Neal’s smarts came from the streets, his survival his sole concern. King and Berson’s script treats this Judas almost sympathetically, showing how impressed he was by being invited to the home of the agent running him and being taken to a fancy restaurant for a steak. These things mark him as a man who has grown up in poverty, with little education, and Stanfield perfectly captures his blank ambivalence to the subterfuge in which he’s enmeshed. He should have been ripe for conversion to the Panthers’ cause but somehow the message seemed to wash over him, despite his elevation to the position of Hampton’s chief of security. Jesse Plemons is a terrific character actor and its easy to believe him as Agent Roy Mitchell - he’s the very embodiment of the archetypal FBI man - and Martin Sheen is almost unrecognisable as Hoover; he looks monstrous, presumably by design. Dominique Fishback is a revelation as Deborah Johnson, a young woman who works in the office of the Panthers and who develops a romantic relationship with Hampton. The scene where she takes the lead in romancing the surprisingly shy Fred is a delight.
Judas And The Black Messiah is a powerful movie that, while reflecting on the past, carries a message that is relevant to modern-day viewers. It throws a light, regrettably, on how little has changed since the Sixties; think of the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the police and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. King’s film shows us that the past is not so distant from the present. And a note: stay for the credits.