Burning an Illusion
Burning an Illusion | |
---|---|
Directed by | Menelik Shabazz |
Produced by | Vivien Pottersman |
Starring |
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Cinematography | Roy Cornwall |
Edited by | Judy Seymour |
Music by | Seyoum Nefta |
Production company | |
Release date |
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Running time | 105 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Burning an Illusion is a 1981 British
Plot
The film begins with scenes of a house party, with Pat on voice-over introducing herself, somewhat as if from a diary. She is 22 years old and not sure where she is going in life. Her voice-over narration is used at several other points in the film, but not often.
Her friend, Sonya, gives her and Del a lift home from the party. Sonya's boyfriend, Chamberlain, is in the front passenger seat and they are exuberantly chatty, while Del appears to whisper sweet nothings in Pat's ear in the back seat.
Del manages to obtain the phone number of Pat's parents, and happens to call it while she is there, despite her having had her own flat for three years. He invites her on a date, on which they go to a restaurant and drink wine after the meal, though they both agree they dislike the wine. They take a cab back to her flat. Del claims to be chivalrous because he opened the taxi door for her. They go up to the door of her flat, but Pat will not invite him in, saying: "It's late." Del protests that he has taken her to the "best black restaurant in town" and paid for everything, implying that he expects something in return, but ultimately he leaves slightly disappointed.
A while later, Del knocks on Pat's door. He is carrying a holdall. He has had a row with his father and either been kicked out of the family home or has left voluntarily (it is left unclear, perhaps for the viewer to decide which). He moves in with Pat.
One of Pat's friends is having issues with her boyfriend being dominating. Chatting on a park bench with a third friend, Pat says she should leave him. Meanwhile, at the pool club, Del's friends are saying that in a relationship the man should dominate. Pat asks Del when he's going to "settle down". Del points out that things are fine at the moment, though concedes "maybe in five or six months time".
At Del's work as a machinist there is a new foreman who appears to be racist, singling out Del for scrutiny. Del is often late for work and eventually loses his job. He thinks it is no big deal and that he will easily be able to find another job, but discovers that there are no machinist jobs available.
Pat continues to iron Del's shirts and cook his meals, shopping from her wages, while Del begins to take liberties, treating the place as his own, inviting friends round to gamble at cards and expecting Pat to wait on them. Eventually, she won't put up with it any more. She throws Del's friends out, during which some of them say that he needs to "control [his] woman". Then she tries to throw Del out, saying that the relationship is over. Del is initially unmoved, but then reacts angrily, claiming that it is his flat. Pat points out that it is hers. Then he slaps her quite violently. She grabs a knife from the kitchen drawer. He finally leaves. She does not break down in tears, but is visibly distressed.
Some time later, Del spots Pat in town. She tries to evade him, but he follows apace, and at a traffic island they are marooned. They agree to meet, whereupon Pat explains the problems with their relationship. Del orders wine, with a cheeky grin. When they wander and skip around the streets afterwards, it seems like they are new lovers.
They go to a gig with Sonya, Chamberlain, and other friends. Chamberlain becomes jealous when Sonya is talking to another man (a friend from school), and drags her outside. She says she can "talk to who[m] I like, when I like, and if you don't like it, you know what to do about it." He slaps her, and kicks her after she falls to the ground. The others gradually come outside, and try to restrain Chamberlain. Del tries to calm Chamberlain down. Chamberlain pulls a knife and says it's none of his business. The police arrive. Del resists manhandling from a plainclothes officer, pulls a knife, and slashes the officer's face.
He is sentenced to four years in prison.
Pat regularly visits Del in prison. Initially he is angry about the injustice. But then he gets into reading, and Pat sends him various books, which she has been reading herself, at least one of which is about black people's condition in society.
Del is not granted parole. The judge says the harsh sentence is needed to deter violent disorder.
Pat is shot in the leg in a drive-by shootnig, and hospitalized. It's not clear why.
The film ends with Pat putting books in an incinerator, saying she could never believe her life and dreams could change so much.
Main cast members
- Cassie McFarlane (Pat Williams)
- Victor Romero Evans (Del Bennett)
- Beverley Martin (Sonia)
- Angela Wynter (Cynthia)
- Malcolm Fredericks (Chamberlain)
- Corinne Skinner-Carter (Pat's mother)
Background
Giving the history to the film's making, Shabazz wrote on his website (where Burning an Illusion is characterised as "a meeting ground for romantic love and politics"): "Being on the set of
Burning an Illusion, according to
Release
Critical reception
Reviewing the film in The Black Scholar, Roland S. Jefferson wrote: "What an eye opening surprise! Menelik Shabazz has given us our first glimpse of contemporary black life in London and it is long overdue."[7]
In
Almost 40 years after release, Burning an Illusion was reviewed in mainstream media. In 2020,
Awards
The film won the Grand Prix at the
Burning an Illusion was honoured with a
See also
References
- ^ a b Ade Solanke, "Burning an Illusion (1981)", BFI Screenonline.
- ^ Burning an Illusion, DVD Video Review, 1 September 2005.
- ^ a b Marva Jackson Lord, Burning An Illusion Feature, Griots.net.
- ^ Stephen Bourne, Black in the British Frame: The Black Experience in British Film and Television, A&C Black, 2005, p. 202.
- ^ "Memories of Menelik Shabazz, 1954–2021". BFI. 2 July 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
- ^ "Burning an Illusion: Story Behind the Film". Menelik Shabazz. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
- ^ Jefferson, Roland S. (May/June 1985), Review of Burning an Illusion, The Black Scholar, Vol. 16, No. 3, POLITICS AND CULTURE, pp. 51–53.
- ^ "Burning an Illusion - BFI Southbank Programme Notes". BFI Southbank. 1982. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
- ^ "Burning an Illusion - Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
- ^ Screen Nation Honours: Burning an Illusion.
- ^ "BURNING AN ILLUSION - CLASSIC MOVIE AWARD 2011". YouTube, 23 October 2011.
Further reading
- Inge Blackman, "Black Pioneers - The early history of Black filmmaking in the UK", BFI ScreenOnline.
External links
- Burning an Illusion at IMDb
- Burning an Illusion at BFI Player, British Film Institute
- Burning an Illusion at the BFI's Screenonline
- Debbie D’Oyley, "Tribute To A Classic: Burning An Illusion (1981)", Women Of The Lens, 1 October 2017.