The Last Black Man in San Francisco

The Last Black Man in San Francisco

Starring Jimmie Fails, Jonathan Majors, Danny Glover, Tichina Arnold

Directed by Joe Talbot

All throughout high school I participated in pretty much every school play we had, and I always had a passion for the theater, as well as film.  While watching "The Last Black Man in San Francisco," I couldn't help but feel like I was watching a play on screen, as first-time director Joe Talbot incorporates several theatrical motifs into this excellently-written story about a man seemingly out of time in his hometown of San Francisco - a town that's seemingly forgotten him.

Jimmie Fails (Jimmie Fails) and his best friend Mont Allen (Jonathan Majors) are inseparable, as they do everything together every day - from just sitting near the road to skateboarding and just talking about life, you never see one without the other.  They even live together, with Mort's Grandpa Allen (Danny Glover), and are ridiculed by a group of men who stand outside Allen's house on an almost daily basis and seemingly do nothing but complain and insult one another and everyone around them.  Jimmie pines for the old home that he grew up in -a beautiful Victorian house in the Fillmore District with a unique roof that resembles a witch's hat that Jimmie's grandfather built in the 1940s - but it's currently occupied by an elderly couple who don't take kindly to Jimmie's continued arrivals, even though he only visits to make improvements on the elderly home.

After a tragic event befalls the couple, the house is abandoned, and Jimmie and Mont immediately squat in it.  Jimmie goes about restoring it to his classic childhood home, and after visiting Jimmie's Aunt Wanda (Tichina Arnold), manage to bring back the old furniture from Jimmie's childhood back into the home.  Mont begins writing again after a friend of his and Jimmie's is murdered, and decides to put on a play in the attic to celebrate his life - and the outcome will change their lives forever.

"The Last Black Man in San Francisco" is a wholly unique, deeply introspective, personal film that was co-written by Jimmie Fails, who stars as himself in a pseudo-biographical story of his life in the city he loves.  This is his first time on screen, and allows the viewer to really feel immersed in the story as you're not watching a famous actor playing another role, but rather an unknown playing his own life.  Everything about the film makes you feel fully saturated in the culture, setting, and vibe of San Francisco even if you've never been there - and again it felt like watching a play.

The city itself serves as the mise-en-scene, and Talbot takes careful consideration to construct his set pieces and scenery to fully encapsulate the experience.  When we see Jimmie and Mont walking down the street, there's extras who are either sitting still or walking in the opposite direction in the background, just enough to notice them but not enough to deter focus - on the contrary, it adds to the overall sense of the title of the film, as Jimmie and Mont are heading in a completely different direction than everyone else.  The main setting is the classic house itself, and the inside wholly resembles the set of a play, even with secret rooms and an attic that houses a play of its own.

There's a group of African American men who literally stand outside Mort's Grandfather's house throughout the film and do little more than talk to each other and those passing by them, mostly in negative ways.  They resemble the classic Greek chorus which is defined as those who serve to formulate, express, and comment on the moral issue that is raised by the dramatic action and express an emotion appropriate to each stage of the dramatic conflict.  They solely exist for this purpose, as they interact with Jimmie and Mont and how they act around them is something wholly theatrical, but also modern.  It's a beautiful blend of the classic and modern that's fascinating to see.

The film discusses important issues of life, especially the unbreakable bond of friendship and the topic of male masculinity.  One would think that Jimmie and Mont are more than "just friends" by how they interact with one another (especially in one touching scene when Mont and Jimmie are riding the same skateboard together), and are often mocked by the Greek chorus for being "too close," even though the chorus themselves are friends, but you can clearly sense the difference between them: the chorus rag on one another and insult each other, while nary a negative word is spoken between Jimmie and Mont.  Their friendship transcends traditional thought, and achieves a higher purpose in showing that true friendship can still exist.

What also makes this film unique is the love story within.  There's hardly any females in the film, and Jimmie doesn't pine for a female companion, but rather the home he grew up in, the home his grandfather built, and his only source of normalcy.  When he finally gets his prize, he cherishes it like a bride, loving restoring it to its former glory and tenderly caring for it.  It's beautiful and heartfelt, and something you sense that's more personal to the real Jimmie than the character Jimmie.

Touching on important issues about ordinary life, "The Last Black Man in San Francisco" is a wholly unique film filled with heartfelt, emotional performances and is a lovely ode to one of America's best cities.

The Score: A+