Night Catches Us is a love poem to a turbulent age.
As a child in the 60s and 70s, watching the Black Panther movement from the comfort of my suburban middle class home, I had no idea what it all really meant to the people living the conflict. This film helps you to understand how the racial struggle impacted individual people. Death, love, revenge, resignation, acceptance, and compromise all play out in a very understated fashion.
The production and continuity is meticulous. The cars, clothing, hairstyles, household items, even down to the soda cans are all carefully chosen to represent 1976. The music used is not period, but it sounds very much so, and credit must be given to The Roots for capturing the times with their own sound.
The resolution, or lack thereof, is the only ending that could have been possible for this film. Patricia must continue her fight and her penance. Marcus must move on. It hurts, but it's the only right thing. Difficult to convey such hard reality to movie-going audiences who want overblown drama and unrealistic love stories. In this case, reality is pitch perfect.
As a child in the 60s and 70s, watching the Black Panther movement from the comfort of my suburban middle class home, I had no idea what it all really meant to the people living the conflict. This film helps you to understand how the racial struggle impacted individual people. Death, love, revenge, resignation, acceptance, and compromise all play out in a very understated fashion.
The production and continuity is meticulous. The cars, clothing, hairstyles, household items, even down to the soda cans are all carefully chosen to represent 1976. The music used is not period, but it sounds very much so, and credit must be given to The Roots for capturing the times with their own sound.
The resolution, or lack thereof, is the only ending that could have been possible for this film. Patricia must continue her fight and her penance. Marcus must move on. It hurts, but it's the only right thing. Difficult to convey such hard reality to movie-going audiences who want overblown drama and unrealistic love stories. In this case, reality is pitch perfect.