A Raisin in the Sun (1961)

Yeah, there are some corny platitudes in this one, and it's a deliberately forced, theatrical melodrama. Not only that but you might be constantly distracted by Claudia McNeil's resemblance to the boxer James Toney.

However, the intentionally set-bound, stage-like work contains a mesmerising intensity throughout, an almost uncomfortable two hours of naked emotion on screen.

Cinematography and cast are both pretty much first-rate in a screenplay that seems to have one too many points to make, but manages to tie them all together by the film's end.

Fmovies: ...I found the acting to be somewhat "over-the-top". Also, the story could have been condensed a bit; it seems to go on too long for what was/is essentially a stage-play. The movie is over 2 hours in length. The story is quite good (but long) at telling what life was like in the 50's, for a well-educated black family, trying to make their life better.

Diary entry 1996:

For decades I have been waiting for American TV to see fit to exhibit the movie version of "A Raisin in the Sun". The day will never come. So I grabbed the opportunity to check out the video from the library. I didn't expect to be moved as much as I was when I first saw the TV play. After all, I knew the plot. The novelty effect was no longer there. Yet I was tearful throughout the movie, and was wiping away tears for the last half hour. There are wonderful lines like "Seems God saw fit to give the black man nothing but dreams - but He sure saw fit to give'em children to make the dream seem worthwhile". "A raisin in the Sun" is not only the greatest movie drama, but also the greatest American play. This play transcends race and addresses universal issues. It combines drama with humor with admirable balance.

A Raisin in the Sun fmovies. My applause goes to director, Daniel Petrie, for a masterpiece movie that concentrated on one set of a black family's small apartment, in the projects of Chicago. This movie shows every hardship that black families went through in the fifties. A Raisin in the Sun movie is a remake of Lorraine Hansberry's classic stage play of how a black family tries to escape from their crowded apartment life to a house in an all white neighborhood. Sidney Politer delivered his usual outstanding performance in this film, which sends a message about the limited opportunities open to blacks in this time period. My favorite character was Mama, played by Claudia McNeil. She did an excellent job showing how the mother is always the backbone of black families through every trial and tribulation. I am not usually a fan of black and white movies, but this movie displayed a wonderful storyline for me to understand the struggle they went through. There was never a movie that I can think of that was this excellent with one set most of the movie and was in black and white. The part of the movie that meant a lot to me is how Mama took the money she received and did something with it that would benefit the whole family. Overall, each main character portrayed a strong black person. For example, Walter Lee realized that he is suppose to follow behind his father and be a strong black man and raise a family. Ruth always stood by her husband no matter his wrongs, Beneatha was a young black student going to college to be doctor and Mama was just their for any of her family member's and remain strong for everyone.

Every once in a while it brings out a gem of verboseness ringing beautifully true, making this a master writer at 29 just there alive on screen at an age it all begins to work. Heart plus soul when set to words will trump today's path of least resistance 'politics is cinema.' What gets me is its cynicism portends godliness as conclusion, as in the grandma knows right, when there was a symptom of the beginning of the 'cultural' end already--and the end we see playing out today is racial, economic, and the man playing out in a post-identity world making the stakes even higher staring down the machine age. For 1961 this is misunderstood as our results today are so inevitable we would see it as an echo from long ago crystallizing: the late stage capitalism makes this film not only relevant but so grand the film is a genuinely haunting simulation of, not where it all went wrong, as I'm more agnostic, but what 'it' even is. That is sociological vs technological leaves the underclass out of humanity's ascension. The film's writer died at 34, interesting as Poitier keeps remarking he's 35. It is something about the prime of life materializing and de-materializing so painfully at once--is there any greater mark of societal failure than its more useful and able being without use? Everything Poitier says about joining or dying to the Grandma's wisdom--well she's gone now. So to my millennial eyes, his decision to sell the house back to the white folk seemed like a triumphant victory. Remember culture came to the same conclusion, setting aside religion that we 'can' fight for material. Then rejecting the solution was the film's chess-match with itself to reject its own victory for the greater moral one. This is also a rebellion against the form in clashing against the western audience's expectation--as the DVD pamphlet read, the film flopped in England--so even victory would be westernizing the sacredness of outsiders who decide on their own terms the nature of their assimilation, as is their sacred right to protect their culture and heritage however they, not we see fit. So you understand exactly what they mean when they say liberalism has become a new religion, as the institution of religion has outgrown its usefulness to empower useful action, rather would only placate, turns over to practice. Then Poitier in his hunger was in the exact mold of the modern man, there side by side on the evolutionary forefront, the film keeps bringing home this drive in itself is a quiet victory and the Grandma knows this. All along she knows he's already won. Everything he said is true, but he misses the pain of having a little hope is a great thing to the Grandma, whose victory was setting them to fail on the same prism as everyone else. "It was once freedom now it's money." "It was always money." Interesting its distinction of africanism and black america where assimilation is a nasty word to rebel against--the african immigrant taking precedent through immigration of the exceptional causes resentment; the black american taking theirs creates another prophetic identity war and tension in the degree, playing by 'their' rules rather than subverting and conquering them from within, as is his hunger vs the immigrant's, as is, two-fold: the sister's return to primitivism, shows a solution of subversion as an escape from this sick machine combating inhumanity with humanity. Second the immigrant has outdone and earned the sister off the boat, with what the

"A Raisin in the Sun" presents powerful acting performances from Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, and Claudia MacNeil. I was deeply engaged throughout the film due to the fine presence of the characters and meaningful dialogue. The conversations between the members in the Younger family reveal not only their unique personalities and dreams, but also, the complex nature of their relationships and the deep personal issues within each of them. Someone once said, "pride is a dangerous thing" and this film beautifully illustrates the consequences of pride. In my opinion, this is one of Poitier's finest moments in film but, more importantly, I believe this story offers a lesson to all of us, regardless of race, about love and pride. It is truly a classic film.