for colored girls

What can i say? i LIKED it. I really liked it. shock the hell outta me, too!
now, don't get too excited: it's far from a great film. in fact, i'd say it was more interesting than good. but, ultimately, i think it works, particularly as a MOVIE, that is, as a visual experience. And it's primary success is earned by being a virtual orgy of close-ups of black women's faces, an image all too rare in popular american cinema.

here, i should confess that i am no fan of the original play (uh oh!) and i think the long poetic arias for which the close-up are used are the weakest part of the show (more sacrilege, sorry!). as a consequence, i don't really know what parts, that aren't overt "poetry," are perry's additions to the dialogue. nor, am i sure what actual plot elements he has added (i don't remember the theater piece as actually having any plot, per se). but i found myself welcoming the parts that actually seemed to be a story, overwrought and pathological as they may be. but what really makes the piece is it's almost Sirk-like style (see Douglas Sirk, e.g. his WRITTEN ON THE WIND), i.e., it's fascination with color, costume, social class, the emotional world of women (particularly as imagined by [homosexual] men) and operatic melodrama. perry has not become a master overnight, however: he relies far too often on the same cinematic strategies, especially shifting depths-of-field, and the movie ends up feeling too long and rather repetitive (like the play was, imo). some of the actors sustain interest better than others: phylicia rashad and (the great) kimberly elise hold up best (the scenes between rashad and elise and rashad and thandie newton are just great); loretta devine leaps over her character to ultimately good effect, as does newton. not so fortunate are whoopi goldberg or janet jackson, but their characters and dialogue may have been mountains too high for any actors to conquer. and, finally, what can one say about macy gray: brave? crazy? both?! what is her deal, anyway?! no argument that she is an indelible presence, whatever else she may be. try this: she's a one-woman harmony korine movie.