Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not be Televised), Ahmir Khalib Thompson’s (aka Questlove) infectious collection of never-before-seen-footage of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival (defamed for generations as “Black Woodstock”) is both a musical spectacular blowout and a powerful deconstruction of the Black experience of the era. In a lyrical collage of glorious music and sociological study set at the end of the Civil Rights Movement, Summer of Soul looks through the lens of performance, activism, and musical genealogy to speak to our country’s history, black identity, and the all-transformative power of soul. The musical segments alone make Questlove’s Sundance-winning documentary an absolute must-see. The sociopolitical commentary that runs throughout however makes it essential.
A joyous celebration of black culture in the heart of New York’s black community in the aftermath of Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassinations, the 3rd Annual Harlem Cultural Festival featured some of the most talented performers of not just a generation but of all time. Any movie that has the audacity to start with Stevie Wonder whipping out a crazed drum solo and then proceed to not get one bit less cool is a daunting movie indeed and Summer of Soul has all that and more. Just when you feel like the bar won’t or can’t be raised, the concert just keeps rocking and rolling along, interspliced with an edifying walk down the often dark, sometimes triumphant memory lane of the Black experience in 1969.
Despite extensive footage having been shot at the event – captured by Hal Tulchin – it had long laid out of sight in some far-off fault, never to be seen. And then along came Questlove…
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The popular American musician and The Roots frontman breaks into documentarian filmmaking with a triumphant explosion, combining archival footage of hair-raising musical performances in with modern commentary with folks like Chris Rock and Lin Manuel Miranda there to talk about the relevance of the event and its place within larger Black culture. In addition to being just an all-out celebration of music and music’s place in larger Black culture, Summer of Soul gets to the heart of how music allowed the idea of Black identity to evolve past the point of viewing itself in relation to white identity, needs, and wants, too often there to box them in, and begin to define for themselves what being Black was.
1969 was “the year when the negro died and Black was born” and Summer of Soul examines how Black voices stopped caring about politely fitting into mainstream white culture wherever they were allowed to do so. When the music isn’t overwhelmingly just straight crushing it, Questlove dives into a variety of issues effecting the Black community: the introduction of drugs into Black communities and the ensuring addiction epidemic; the US moon landing and the conversation it sparked about national priorities when hungry Black families were left ignored in Harlem; the evolution of the idea of Black Pride. All came into play to some degree at the Harlem Cultural Festival where music become a means for expression, running the range of emotion: catharsis, rage, possession, trauma, joy; and Questlove masterfully weaves all these historical accounts, musical interludes, and high emotions into the fabric of his assertive concert doc.
There performers like Sly and the Family Stone, B.B. King, Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, The 5th Dimension, and so many more rubbed elbows with white politicians like New York City mayor John Lindsay and Black civil rights leaders like Jesse Jackson, all of whom coalesced onstage to make the festival about more than just the music. To quote Gladys Knight, “It wasn’t just about the music” but my god does the music rule.
CONCLUSION: Questlove creates a toe-tapping and revolutionary documentary that’ll have audiences foaming at the mouth for more. The lineup of talent is simply insane, the performances eye-popping, the talking-head commentary on Black culture and music’s place within it is poignant and relevant today without stopping the contagious upbeat energy. An absolute must-see.
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For all our coverage of Sundance 2021, click here.
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By: Matt Oakes
Started blogging about film in college when the university paper wouldn’t have him. Dislikes your consensus film Twitter favorites. Devotee of horror movies that make him die a little inside. Catches films at festivals when he can. Proud SFCS and OFCS member and Tomatometer-approved critic. Editor-in-chief of Silver Screen Riot.
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