Tripti Joshi (Editor)

Bessie (film)

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
7
/
10
1
Votes
Alchetron7
7
1 Ratings
100
90
80
71
60
50
40
30
20
10
Rate This

Rate This

Genre
  
Biopic

Producer
  
Ron Schmidt

Duration
  

Language
  
English

7/10
IMDb

Director
  
Music director
  
Country
  
United States

Bessie (film) movie poster

Release date
  
May 16, 2015 (2015-05-16)

Writer
  
Christopher Cleveland (screenplay), Horton Foote (story), Bettina Gilois (screenplay), Dee Rees (screenplay), Dee Rees (story)

Cast
  
Similar movies
  
John Mayer: Someday I'll Fly
,
Eric Clapton: Sessions for Robert J
,
Pino Daniele Live @ RTSI
,
Blues Story
,
Muddy Waters - Got My Mojo Working - Rare Performances 1968-1978
,
Deep Blues

Tagline
  
Survival began with a song.

Bessie tease hbo films


Bessie is an HBO TV film about legendary American blues singer Bessie Smith, and focuses on her transformation as a struggling young singer into "The Empress of the Blues". The film is directed by Dee Rees, with a screenplay by Rees, Christopher Cleveland and Bettina Gilois. Queen Latifah stars as Smith, and supporting roles are played by Michael Kenneth Williams as Smith's first husband Jack Gee, and Mo'Nique as Ma Rainey. The film premiered on May 16, 2015.

Contents

Bessie (film) movie scenes

The film received mostly positive reviews from critics, and received four Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Television Movie.

Bessie (film) movie scenes

Bessie character spot queen latifah bessie hbo films


Synopsis

Bessie (film) movie scenes

Bessie Smith (Queen Latifah) is a young singer from Chattanooga, Tennessee. She and her siblings are orphaned when their parents, William and Laura, die, leaving their oldest sister, Viola (Khandi Alexander), to raise them. Viola is stern and Bessie's childhood is unhappy. She along with her brother Clarence (Tory Kittles) scrape by working for local vaudeville shows. Her stage ambitions are frustrated by producers unwilling to feature dark-skinned black women in their shows. Bessie sneaks onto traveling performer Ma Rainey's (Mo'Nique) train compartment and asks to join her show. Ma Rainey takes Bessie under her wing and helps her develop her abilities until Bessie's popularity causes a schism between the two women. Bessie leaves with Clarence to start her own show.

Bessie (film) movie scenes

In addition to her lover Lucille (Tika Sumpter), Bessie begins a tumultuous relationship with Jack Gee (Michael K. Williams), a security guard who later becomes her husband and manager. After a humiliating rejection from the newly formed Black Swan Records, Jack manages to get Bessie a record deal with Columbia Records. Immense success follows, though Bessie encounters difficulties, including a stabbing attack after a show in her hometown, racism from white guests during an affluent party, and an attack during her show by the Ku Klux Klan, whom she courageously chases off. Eventually, Bessie reconciles with Viola, and moves her and all of her siblings into a mansion to live with her. The move causes additional tension with Jack, and Bessie pushes him further by adopting a young boy, whom she names Jack Jr., as their son. Eventually, Lucille leaves Bessie in order to have her own life. Despite her own affair with bootlegger Richard Morgan (Mike Epps), Bessie is infuriated upon discovering that Jack is bankrolling his mistress, up and coming performer Gertrude Saunders. After a violent quarrel, Jack leaves her. Bessie spirals into depression and alcohol. Jack returns, kidnapping Jack Jr. with the assistance of Viola, and takes him to live with him, contending that Bessie is an unfit mother.

Bessie (film) movie scenes

During the Great Depression, Bessie's fortune dissolves, and she and Clarence move into a small apartment. Bessie reconciles with Ma Rainey and takes some time to recuperate from her personal losses. Eventually, she accepts Richard's love for her and the two begin a relationship. After hearing Lucille Bogan's licentious hit song "Til the Cows Come Home", Bessie performs once again and meets a young John Hammond who wishes to produce her comeback tour. Bessie's comeback is a success and she later reflects on her life while discussing the future with Richard.

Cast

  • Queen Latifah as Bessie Smith
  • Michael K. Williams as Jack Gee, Bessie's husband
  • Khandi Alexander as Viola Smith, Bessie's older sister
  • Mo'Nique as Ma Rainey
  • Mike Epps as Richard, a romantic interest of Bessie's and later, her lifetime companion
  • Tory Kittles as Clarence Smith, Bessie's older brother
  • Tika Sumpter as Lucille, a romantic interest of Bessie's, a fictional character who is likely a composite of several of Smith's real life female companions and lovers
  • Oliver Platt as Carl Van Vechten, artistic photographer
  • Bryan Greenberg as John Hammond, record producer and critic
  • Charles S. Dutton as William 'Pa' Rainey
  • Joe Knezevich as Frank Walker
  • Production

    A first draft screenplay was written by playwright Horton Foote at a time when Columbia Pictures was slated to produce the film, but the project died when the studio became involved in a financial irregularity that threatened its existence. Mr. Foote purchased his screenplay back from Columbia and acquired the film rights from biographer Chris Albertson. In the early 1990s, when the possibility of producers Richard D. Zanuck and Lili Fini Zanuck taking over the project arose, Albertson suggested Queen Latifah for the lead, but the project lay dormant when financing could not be found. Upon Horton Foote's death in 2009, the script and film rights became the property of his daughter, actress Hallie Foote, who took it to the Zanucks and HBO. Thus, press releases claim that Bessie has been "22 years in the making." As part of the HBO deal, Queen Latifah is credited as one of the executive producers. The project was filmed in Atlanta, Georgia.

    An early article announcing the HBO film indicated it would be based on Bessie, a 1972 biography by Chris Albertson, but a year later the book was not included in the film's credits or promotion, nor did the end result bear but a peripheral resemblance to Albertson's book.

    Reception

    The film received positive reviews from critics, with many critics praising the performances of Queen Latifah, Mo'Nique, and Khandi Alexander, while criticizing the use of the "Hollywood biopic" formula. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a score of 87% based on 15 critic reviews. Metacritic gave the film a score of 75 out of 100 based on 20 critic reviews.

    References

    Bessie (film) Wikipedia
    Bessie (film) IMDb Bessie (film) themoviedb.org