Shaft
Amazon.co.uk Review
This original and hippest version of Shaft cruised onto cinema screens in 1971. John Shaft (Richard Roundtree) is an African-American private eye who has a rocky relationship with cops, an even rockier one with Harlem gangsters, and a healthy sex life. The script finds Shaft tracking down the kidnapped daughter of a black mobster, but the pleasure of the film is the sum of its attitude, Roundtree’s uncompromising performance, and the thrilling, Oscar-winning score by Isaac Hayes. Director Gordon Parks (The Learning Tree) seems fond of certain detective genre cliché (e.g., the hero walking into his low-rent office and finding a hood waiting to talk with him), but he and Roundtree make those moments their own. Shaft produced a couple of sequels, a follow-up television series, and a remake starring Samuel L Jackson, but none had the impact this movie did. –Tom Keogh, Amazon.com
I always see this movie as a great Harlem detective story. Shafts pulsate with street-level lingo and a deep sense of conviction you can help but admire. In the great tradition of detective movies Shaft is clearly a hard-bitten loner who spars with friends and foe alike, then gets just what he wants from everyone.
Even though “Shaft” was an MGM release it was clearly intended for the black audience Hollywood had always ignored. The attitude of Shaft is what set it apart – it made no effort to court the white audience at all. John Shaft kept his mouth shut for nobody, and wasn’t interested in carrying a civics lesson or being an ambassador from an alien race. He was openly promiscuous, keeping at least a couple of steady women on his string, and taking in the occasional admiring prostitute. He talked dirty, told white cops where to get off, pushed around the toughest of the black mobsters, and made mincemeat of adversaries both black and white. A year before “The Godfather,” the Mafia of Shaft consisted of fairly accurate Italian goombah types; Shaft had no trouble letting loose with the ethnic slurs either. In other words, “Shaft” was a fresh dose of reality, in 70s parlance, ‘telling it like it is.’ This script showed no influence of studio influence, whatsoever.
Shaft has a good New York look. The overall atmosphere is great, a mixture of dingy, claustrophobic hotel rooms and neglected city streets. A lot of the action appears to take place around Times Square, which was quite a different place in 1970 – much rougher, much more rundown. Shaft must hold the record for the number of movie marquees on view in one film; I’d guess it was filmed in late Summer-Early fall with what’s playing in downtown Manhattan. Roundtree fills out the role believably while the surrounding cast work well together, even if the stereotype line is occasionally breached. Several nice moments in the script carry the film over its dull passages, all leading up to a great ending.
Rating: 4 / 5
This film is unique in many ways..
1. A black man is shown as desirable and able to pull women.
2. A black man is clever and able to outwit the opposition.
3. A black man is a winner.
This was bound to be controversial…..
Almost without exception Hollywood depicts black males as a joke. Here we have a film with depth and feeling and the central character is strong and to be admired. So, to combat this the word `blacksploitation` was invented and the film derided and sneered at.
I love the scene between Shaft and the Police oficer, the officer holds a black pen against Shaft’s face and says “You aint so black”, Shaft holds a white mug again the officer’s face and replies “You aint so white”.
A great film with a lot of wit and a good story line, buy it and enjoy! (And don’t bother with the remake.)
Rating: 5 / 5
Well, the story is, Shaft a cool black police officer with links to his poor background on the streets of New York, heads off on a private job to find the local gangsters kidnapped daughter (for a price). He heads back onto the streets for a treat of realistic and gritty action where Shaft smooth talks the women (who worship him), takes no crap from anyone and where the moral of the tale tells us that human beings must look after one another (the white mafia stab each other in the back, while the black brothers and sisters look after their own). After hearing they were filming a re-make of this film with Samuel L Jackson playing lead man John Shaft, I decided to watch the original. The thing that struck me from the start was the music which was done by the musician/songwriter Isaac Hayes (who now does the voice of chef in South Park). His voice is gorgeous. This video gets a preety big thumbs up because of its excellent soundtrack, it standing the test of time well and the social commentary of its day (the hero is black/cool/sexy). I think its ace! Look out for Shafts excellent laugh!
Rating: 4 / 5
The first 15 mins show great promise, then the plot just descends in to obscurity – in short, it was boring and I feel asleep. Don’t believe the hype – AVOID.
Rating: 2 / 5