Nothing But A Man (1964)

This was an interesting movie which deepened my understanding of racism in the 1960's but left me with a few queries. It follows Duff Anderson as he fights racism in 1960's America. Starting off working on a railroad, he meets a preachers daughter called Josie. The movie follows him falling in love with Josie and finding out about her being a teacher in Birmingham, Alabama and how her father disapproves of Duff's lifestyle. One day, the pair go to Birmingham together, however they go on different paths. Whilst Josie goes shopping, Duff visits his 4-year-old son who's mother has left him with a nanny and abandoned him. Even though Duff gives the Nanny money and toys to help his son, he shows no interest in living with him. Duff also visits his father and meets his rather grumpy partner. After this, he asks Josie to marry him. As their life together develops, Duff quits his job and moves on to a saw mill. Here the white people use inflammatory language to try and make Duff retaliate. By suggesting this is wrong, he loses his job. On finding work, he is faced with more racism and it begins to be too much. Taking this out on Josie strains their relationship until it is almost at breaking point. Finally, all is resolved as Duff realises he should hold onto the things that matter most to him in life. The film is in black and white which not only shows the period of the film but makes the message sink in as it gives it a melancholy aura representing the oppression the protagonist faced. I loved the music in the film as it gave a safe haven of happiness, it was all in a mo-town style which compliments the volatile tone of the movie. The film won awards at the Venice film festival and was nominated for the New York film festival, it has also been named one of the Top ten black film of all time by Ebony magazine which I understand as it presents big issues in a hard-hitting and honest way. The director, Michael Roemer has won awards such as the Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts and has made films such as The plot against Harry. This movie is very different to Nothing but a man as it is comedic but it has similar slightly bolshie characters and the prisoner represents how a black person may feel trapped by the racism they face. On a whole, I enjoyed Nothing but a Man as it gave me an understanding of the issues black people faced in the 1960's and how they found freedom in the people they loved. It was hard-hitting and may be perceived as unacceptable in this day and age. It helped me understand that this was actually the norm for these people not an exaggerated piece. I would definitely recommend this movie as it really made me think, but only to those over 13 as it is slightly rude and rather distressing.