Claudine

Author

John Berry

Call Number

• DVD DRAMA (CEN, EAS)

Edition

DVD special edition.

Languages

English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.

Performers

James Earl Jones, Diahann Carroll, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Tamu Blackwell, David Kruger, Yvette Curtis.

Publication Information

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

Physical Description

1 videodisc (92 minutes) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 folded sheet (color illustrations ; 19 cm.)

Audience

MPAA rating: PG.

Summary

Claudine is a strong-willed single mother, raising six kids in Harlem, whose budding relationship with a gregarious garbage collector is stressed by the difficulty of getting by in an oppressive system. Directed by John Berry, this romantic comedy with a social conscience deftly balances warm humor with a serious look at the myriad issues--from cycles of poverty to the indignities of the welfare system--that shape its characters' realities. The result is an empathetic chronicle of both Black working-class struggle and Black joy, a bittersweet, bighearted celebration of family and community set to a sunny soul soundtrack composed by Curtis Mayfield and performed by Gladys Knight & the Pips.

Notes

Title from container.

Originally released as a motion picture in 1974.

Special features: New 4K digital restoration ; audio commentary from 2003 featuring actors Diahann Carroll, James Earl Jones, and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs; filmmaker George Tillman Jr.; and Dan Pine, the son of screenwriters Lester Pine and Tine Pine ; new conversation between filmmaker Robert Townsend and programmer Ashley Clark ; illustrated audio excerpts from a 1974 AFI Harold Lloyd Master Seminar featuring Carroll ; new interview with film critic Imogen Sara Smith on director John Berry.