The Last Black Man in San Francisco:

I first watched this film a few months back and then proceeded to watch it about three more times in the space of two weeks. I wanted to tell everyone I knew to watch this movie immediately. It is such a personal and well told story it made me feel so many strong emotions, I was in awe. I had so many things I wanted to talk about it contributed to me finally getting round to making this blog. So now that I have finally got around to doing so, here are my thoughts on The Last Black Man in San Francisco.

The power behind the message of this film comes from the personal connection the story has to the film’s lead (Jimmy Fails) and the director (Joe Talbot). This is a fact-based film. The real-life Jimmy Fails used to live in a grand house in San Francisco that his grandfather had purchased. When his grandfather died, his family could no longer afford to live there, and they were forced to move out. Jimmy lived in group homes and obsessed over the house and the memories of fonder times. Joe was inspired by this story and the common theme in San Francisco of gentrification and decided to make this film. You can tell this is a film from someone that loves San Francisco, but dislikes what it has become with the invasion of silicone valley start ups driving up the prices and forcing communities out of their neighbourhoods. As Jimmy puts it “You don’t get to hate it unless you love it.” The tech elite came into SF for its soul, sucked it out till it was nothing but a shell and then moved to the next cool place. This is a clear love letter to San Fran, but the real San Fran and the communities that helped make it.

Gentrification is not the main point of this film though; it is more of a backdrop to exemplify the struggles of Jimmy. His whole existence is the house, since becoming homeless he has made it his life’s goal to get back to that house; he has pinned the house as an object for happiness and is so blinded by that he cannot look past it. He is constantly working on the house instead of himself. The film shows how the project of the house has become him through imagery so effectively. Water dripping down the tiles showing his sweat, the gold trimming lining the house reflecting the gold chain round his neck, the red paintwork signifying the red shirt Jimmy always wears. As the story progresses, Jimmy is forced to look at himself and the context of his life and decide about what is best.

A special mention must go out to Montgomery and his creative endeavours. Montgomery is the friend that Jimmy needs. He follows him to the ends of the earth, supporting every decision and action he makes. You can tell his deep care for Jimmy and their relationship is the glue of this film. Its heart-warming seeing that even when Jimmy has nothing, he always has his friend there to support him and confront him with hard truths. His play is a real highlight of the film and is the watershed moment for Jimmy to reflect on his standing in life. The performances from the two leads are so strong that it is hard to believe that this is Jimmie Fails’ acting debut.

The film itself is shot beautifully. So many long lingering shots, slow motions shots really help get the message of this film across. The montage of Jimmie and Montgomery skating through the city, the different areas showing the contrast in quality of living and the impact gentrification has had, primarily on the black community of SF. The striking imagery that opens this film of the little girl standing opposite a man wearing a full hazmat suit is striking and conveys so much of the film’s message with the establishing shot. The shot of the flying camera in the rock fight is incredibly cool and is one of the many unique filming techniques that helps this film stand out. The score, bar one or two on the nose choices does a fantastic job in building tension. The soaring strings building at the start really creates an atmosphere that sucks you in to the visuals on the screen. A lot of the songs have been stripped back to enhance the power of the element that remains. Whichever element that is, be it the lyrics or a certain instrument, is selected so well it really enhances the film as all good scores should.

This is by no means a perfect film, nor would you expect it to be, it is the lead actor and directors first ever films. They will learn and grow as creatives as they work on more projects. The flaws of this film are what you would expect from a debut effort: some scenes feel like they drag on too long, some scenes feel unnecessary, and some narrative choices are a little on the nose. However, the positives of this film really outweigh what are, quite frankly, minor gripes that do not spoil the viewing experience. This is a film made with so much passion, love and has such an interesting story with a powerful social landscape observation. I think this is a must watch and I am excited to see what Fails and Talbot do in future projects.