After reading so many good reviews about Queen & Slim, attending the exclusive Premier in Johannesburg was certainly high on my priority list.
Since attending the eximious event at the Universal Music studios in Rosebank, I have been inspired to write yet another good review about Queen & Slim.
That evening, the likes of Oscar nominee Daniel Kaluuya and director Melina Matsoukas were in attendance. As exotic drinks and food floated around the room, the phenomenal cast answered questions about the movie before we were treated to the first viewing of the film.
We were not disappointed as Melina Matsoukas who directed the crime drama proved why she is one of the Queens of modern-day black cinema.
Through the roles of a strong-willed lawyer acted by Jordie Tuner-smith and a young impressionable Black man played by Daniel Kaluuya, the two-time Grammy Award-winning music video director sparked deep conversations about the experience of being Black and White supremacy. The love story controversially ends with the point of view that Black resistance inspires only senseless violence, and in the end, it is those that look like us that we should fear most.
“I don’t think this film is going to mean as much to other races as it does to black people,” says Melina Matsoukas.
Spike Lee’s influence was imminent in many scenes in this movie. Particularly, the riot scene. This film continues Spikes tradition of showcasing the trauma of the black experience on the American landscape in a visually commanding way.
Certain scenes in the movie was also reminiscent of Hype Williams style of celebrating black bodies, culture and portraying the race authentically and really beautifully even when it was dark.
At the Premier, Melina revealed some of the challenges of putting together the impressively shot film.
“We shot a lot in the car. I will never shoot another scene in the car ever in my life.” Matsoukas jokingly declared. “It was challenging as a film maker because you in this really tight space and you have to figure out how to make this love story progress in an interesting way. It felt like I was on a journey with these two characters despite being confined to just four doors and these four seats through most of the movie”
Despite hard-hitting themes of black oppression under systems of Capitalism and the inevitable tragic aftermath, the movie still manages to tell the most striking love story. Queen & Slim falls in the category of the tragic yet beautiful endings of classics like Romeo and Juliet or the Titanic; its tear-jerking ending makes the film not only worthy of an Oscar win but worth watching again.