Bamboozled

Author

Spike Lee

Call Number

• DVD COMEDY (CEN, EAS, OSH, WSQ)

Edition

Director-approved two-DVD special edition.

Languages

English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.

Performers

Damon Wayans, Savion Glover, Jada Pinkett Smith, Tommy Davidson, Michael Rapaport, Mos Def, Paul Mooney.

Publication Information

[Irvington, NY] : Criterion Collection, [2020]

Physical Description

2 videodiscs (136 minutes) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 folded sheet (color illustrations ; 19 cm.)

Audience

MPAA rating: R; for strong language and some violence.

Summary

With this blisteringly funny, unapologetically confrontational satire, writer-director Spike Lee examined the past, present, and future of racism in American popular culture, issuing a daring provocation to creators and consumers alike. Under pressure to help revive his network's low ratings, television writer Pierre Delacroix hits on an explosively offensive idea: bringing back blackface for a "new-millennium minstrel show." The white network executives love it, and so do audiences, forcing Pierre and his collaborators to confront their public's insatiable appetite for dehumanizing stereotypes. Shot primarily on unvarnished digital video and boasting spot-on performances from Savion Glover, Tommy Davidson, Jada Pinkett Smith, Michael Rapaport, Mos Def, and Paul Mooney, Bamboozled is a stinging indictment of mass entertainment at the turn of the twenty-first century that looks more damning with each passing year.

Notes

Special features: New 2K digital restoration, supervised by director of photography Ellen Kuras and approved by director Spike Lee ; audio commentary from 2001 featuring Lee ; new conversation between Lee and film programmer and critic Ashley Clark ; new interviews with choreographer and actor Savion Glover, actor Tommy Davidson, and costume designer Ruth E. Carter ; On blackface and minstrel show, a new interview program featuring film and media scholar Racquel Gates ; The making of "Bamboozled" (2001), a documentary featuring Lee, Glover, Davidson, actors Jada Pinkett Smith, Michael Rapaport, and Damon Wayans, and other members of the cast and crew ; deleted scenes ; music videos for the Mau Maus' "Blak iz blak" and Gerald Levert's "Dream with no love" ; poster gallery and trailers.