Shot in black and white by cinematographer Nina Kellgren, the film combines archival footage with newly staged set pieces, fantasy sequences, and an imagined love story. The film reclaims and celebrates Langston Hughes as an important black gay voice in American culture. Hughes’ homosexuality is the obsession here, with a Hughes-inspired figure (a man in a tuxedo who bears no physical resemblance to the poet) ogling hunky men who dance and play together in a 1930s nightclub setting. Occasionally, the tuxedo-clad man is walking on a beach, where he discovers a nude man; the two later retire to a bedroom for horizontal activities. Every now and then, vintage film clips of Harlem during the 1930s and scenes from all-black movies interrupt the action.
Honestly, I have now no idea of what I just saw. It felt like a piece of art that made absolutely no sense to me. We just see archival footage and videos of few black men looking and drinking in what can be called as an all men club with some poetry voice over in the background, which I assume if from Langston, but the film just failed to connect with me at any level. As a novice, tt neither gave me any information on who Langston was or what his claim to fame is; nor was the presentation engaging enough for me to even want to know. Being black and gay in 80s was definitely not easy and I would love to see more straight forward narrations of the struggles of the community in those times. This documentary, as it stands, would most likely be loved only by critics and fans of avant-garde wackiness and gay-themed artsy pretension. But to a simpleton like me, it made absolutely no sense. The only redeeming thing about this is that it was under 50 minutes. (1/10)
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