For my first blog post, I would like to discuss a wonderful film that I watched recently. Last Saturday, I finally got the chance to watch The Last Black Man in San Francisco, and I enjoyed every second of it. The film had a color palette that was filled with warmth that had references towards the Fall season and the incorporation of the red throughout the film served as a source of intentional purpose. Additionally, the film had stunning cinematography that was paced realistically and made it hard for me to draw my eyes away. More importantly, the film had me reflect on the fact that there is an unsettling reality that Black people will always have to flee or be structurally forced to leave their homes, It is a modern-day recurrence with historical ties. Gentrification imposes a noise of fear and actively threatens Black people’s ability to feel secure in a place that encompasses their world. Lastly, when I did research on the film I found out that the director Joe Talbot was inspired by his life long friend Jimmie Fails, who is the main character in the movie and goes on a quest to save his family’s home from the impending doom of gentrification. Talbot said that the film draws parallels from Jimmie’s life and experience of gentrification in San Franciso. Overall, I was beyond pleased with the film and I can’t wait to see what future films Joe Talbot will direct and what future films Jimmie Fails will star in.
