Posse (1993 film)
Posse | |
---|---|
Directed by | Mario Van Peebles |
Written by | Sy Richardson Dario Scardapane |
Produced by | Preston Holmes Jim Steele |
Starring |
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Cinematography | Peter Menzies Jr. |
Edited by | Mark Conte Seth Flaum |
Music by | Michel Colombier |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Gramercy Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 111 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $3.5 million[1] |
Box office | $20 million[1] |
Posse is a 1993 American Western film directed by and starring Mario Van Peebles. Featuring a large ensemble cast, the film tells the story of a posse of African-American soldiers and one ostracized white soldier, who are all betrayed by a corrupt colonel. The story starts with the group escaping with a cache of gold, and continues with their leader Jesse Lee (Mario Van Peebles) taking revenge on the men who killed his preacher father. The story is presented as a flashback told by an unnamed old man (Woody Strode). The title of the film refers to a group of people who are summoned to help law enforcement officers. This film was the first film to be released by Gramercy Pictures.
Melvin Van Peebles, the father of director Mario Van Peebles, recorded a new song, "Cruel Jim Crow", for the film. This marked his first music recording in 20 years, after his 1974 album What the....You Mean I Can't Sing?![2] It led to the production of a new album, Ghetto Gothic, released in 1995.[2] The film takes the form of an extended memory, as told by Woody Strode, who witnessed some of the events as a young boy. Strode's opening narration, documenting early black settlers, continues his onscreen naming of individuals overlooked by history from the 1972 documentary Black Rodeo.
Plot
This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (September 2015) |
In 1898, convicted prisoner
With Colonel Graham and his troops supposedly dead, the remnants of the 10th—including Jesse, Obobo (
The newly formed "posse" heads West with Colonel Graham on their heels every step of the way. They eventually stop in a town where Jesse has ammunition custom-made out of gold in order to kill the demons of his past, using one to kill the man who made the ammunition—as he was one of the men who lynched Jesse's father King David (Robert Hooks) years earlier (Father Time later explains that the voodoo ladies in New Orleans believe that gold is the only way to kill a demon). They make their way to Freemanville, a town founded by King David and composed entirely of African-Americans. Jesse is reunited with several old acquaintances, including his good friend Carver (Blair Underwood), who is now the sheriff of Freemanville. Carver's deputy goes to Cutterstown, not wanting to tip anyone off that Carver is working with Cutterstown's sheriff, Bates (Richard Jordan). He informs Bates that Jesse has returned to Freemanville. The "posse" enjoys the hospitality of Freemanville until Bates tells Carver that the town will burn unless Jesse is turned over to him and his deputies (Sheriff Bates and one of his deputies were men that had lynched King David, and were afraid that Jesse had come back for revenge). Bates and a few of his deputies attack Freemanville that same night looking for Jesse. One of the deputies beats Weezie in order to get answers. Watching in disgust, Little J fights back in defense of Weezie. Outnumbered, Little J is kicked and beaten to death by Bates and his men, and Obobo and Jesse's former mentor Papa Joe (Melvin Van Peebles) are taken to Cutterstown as prisoners. Jesse and Father Time soon rescue them by posing as Ku Klux Klan members and storming into the Cutterstown jail. Jesse kills one of the deputies, who was another one of King David's murderers. When Bates arrive at the jail, he shoots and kills the mayor. Colonel Graham arrives right after and aligns himself with the Sheriff as a fellow "friend" of Jesse.
When Jessie returns, he convinces a handful of townspeople (but not Carver) to fight Sheriff Bates by telling them the Sheriff wants the land for himself to sell to the railroad when it comes through. The citizens of Freemanville fight Bates the next day when he rides in, with Jessie Lee stating that if Freemanville burns, so would Cutterstown before motioning to set off a stick of dynamite. As they begin to gain the upper hand, Colonel Graham arrives with his cavalry and a Gatling gun which he uses to cut the people down. Jesse charges the gun with a stick of dynamite, destroying the gun and killing some of Graham's troops while Weezie and Father Time arrive onto the scene.
Meanwhile, Carver plans to flee with the deeds to all of the property in Freemanville—all of which are in his name—but is stopped by Papa Joe's daughter Lana (Salli Richardson). Father Time shows up just in time to stop Carver from harming Lana. Time kills one of Carver's deputies, but is killed by Carver. Before Carver can flee, he is stopped by Bates who reveals that they had a deal to split the proceeds from the land 50-50. Jesse arrives just in time to hear about the deal, and watches as Carver is betrayed and murdered by Bates. Jesse kills Bates in a showdown, finally putting his past demons to rest. Colonel Graham captures Lana and orders Jesse into the saloon, where they have a climactic fight resulting in Graham's death and the destruction of the saloon (which Graham had set ablaze). Jesse, Obobo, Weezie and Lana watch as the townspeople fight the fire.
The story ends almost a century later with an old man (
In the end, a caption goes on to tell that there had been over 8,000 black cowboys in the Old West whose stories had never been told due to omission by Hollywood and others alike.
Cast
- Mario Van Peebles as Jesse Lee
- Stephen Baldwin as Jimmy J. "Little J" Teeters
- Billy Zane as Colonel Graham
- Tone-Lōcas Angel
- Melvin Van Peebles as Joe "Papa Joe"
- Tiny Listeras Obobo
- Big Daddy Kane as "Father Time"
- Reginald VelJohnson as Preston
- Blair Underwood as Sheriff Carver
- Isaac Hayes as Cable
- Charles Lane as "Weezie"
- Robert Hooks as David "King David" Lee
- Richard Jordan as Sheriff Bates
- Pam Grier as Phoebe
- Nipsey Russell as Snopes
- Paul Bartel as Mayor Bigwood
- Salli Richardsonas Lana
- Woody Strode as The Storyteller
- Aaron Neville as Railroad Singer
- Reginald Hudlin as Reporter #1
- Warrington Hudlin as Reporter #2
- Richard Gant as Doubletree
- Richard Edson as Deputy Tom
- Stephen J. Cannell as Jimmy Love
- Scott Bray as The Fire Eater
- Vesta as Vera
- Faizon Love as John
- T.J. McClain as "LA Slim"
Release
Posse was the first film to be released by Gramercy Pictures, which would eventually become Focus Features.[3] It grossed $18.2 million in the U.S. and Canada and $20 million worldwide.[4][1]
Soundtrack
- Intelligent Hoodlum - The Posse (Shoot 'Em Up)
- Tone-Lōc- Posse Love
- B.B.O.T.I. (Badd Boyz of The Industry) - One Night of Freedom
- Melvin Van Peebles - Cruel Jim Crow (Posse Don't Play That)
- Top Choice Clique - I Think To Myself
- Michel Colombier - Jesse
- Vesta - Tell Me
- David + David - Free At Last
- Salli Richardson- If I Knew You At All
- Sounds of Blackness - Freemanville (Homecoming)
- Vesta - Ride of Your Life
- The Neville Brothers - Let That Hammer Fall
Reception
The film has a 33% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 18 reviews.
Janet Maslin of The New York Times stated, "On the one hand, this obviously talented film maker celebrates all the aggrandizing features of the genre: the laconic tough talk, the manly camaraderie, the proud posturing, the power of walking tall past the awestruck citizenry of a prairie town. On the other hand, "Posse" does its best to reject and avenge what it regards as the flagrant distortions of the past."[5]
Roger Ebert described it as "an overdirected, overphotographed, overdone movie that is so distracted by its hectic, relentless style that the story line is rendered almost incoherent."[6]
Entertainment Weekly gave it a C+ and said it was "a glossy, kinetic pastiche of Western conventions."[7]
References
- ^ a b c "15 years of production". Variety. December 14, 1998. p. 102.
- ^ ISSN 0006-2510.
- ^ Staff (August 17, 1993). "In Winner's Circle; Miramax's 'Crying Game' paces indies; New Line still running strong". Variety. Reed Business Information.
Off to an auspicious start is Gramercy Pictures, with its first release, 'Posse,' immediately making the chart [of largest rentals from independent distributors]
- ^ "Posse (1993)". Box Office Mojo. May 14, 1993. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
- ^ New York Times Posse movie review
- ^ Roger Ebert's review of Posse movie
- ^ Entertainment weekly's Posse review
External links
- Posse at IMDb
- Posse at Rotten Tomatoes
- Posse at the TCM Movie Database
- Posse at AllMovie
- Posse at Box Office Mojo