For last week's class, we viewed Devil in a Blue Dress. I chose to watch this film on my own time and while I ultimately thought it was a good movie, it was slow in some parts. I felt like the first act was sort of hard to get into, but that may have just been me. I enjoyed the twist that Frank was actually her half brother, but felt that it drifted into 'tragic mulatto' territory. Once the search for Daphne starts and the murder of Coretta happens, I felt that the pace of the film picked up significantly and it was an enjoyable mystery/'whodunnit'. I couldn't tell where it was going a lot of the time, and I was really invested in what would happen next, especially toward the end as things started to really heat up. Denzel Washington gave a very good performance, but I wish we had gotten more of his backstory. If they had delved more into the murder that he was involved (??) with with Mouse, I think that would have added an interesting component, sort of a how he turned his life around story with him moving to California and owning a house. Very interesting watch.
Glad you got into it. You briefly mentioned the "tragic mulatto" motif, but I'd like you to elaborate on the film's place in the bigger picture of African American cinema. Imagine yourself in a 1990s audience. What is significant about this film? This director? How does it fit into Denzel's career?