Jul 18, 2024
Looking for Langston, Isaac Julien (1989)
seen from United States
seen from Yemen
seen from Malaysia
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Yemen
seen from Spain
seen from Bulgaria
seen from Australia
seen from Bulgaria
seen from Bulgaria
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from Australia
seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Australia
seen from Russia
seen from Bangladesh
Looking for Langston, Isaac Julien (1989)
Looking for Langston (1989) // dir. Isaac Julien
Looking for Langston (1989) // dir. Isaac Julien
Looking for Langston (1989) // dir. Isaac Julien
Looking for Langston (1989) // dir. Isaac Julien
Matthew Baidoo and Ben Ellison (Looking for Langston, 1989)
Looking for Langston (B&W) starring Ben Ellison, Matthew Baidoo, and directed by Isaac Julien
Award-winning British filmmaker Isaac Julien`s LOOKING FOR LANGSTON is both critically acclaimed and controversial. The film is a lyrical and poetic consideration of the life of revered Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes. Isaac Julien invokes Hughes as a black gay cultural icon, against an impressionistic, atmospheric setting that parallels a Harlem speakeasy of the 1920s with a 1980s London underground nightclub.
Extracts from Hughes poetry are interwoven with the work of cultural figures from the 1920s and beyond, including Essex Humphill, Bruce Nugent, and Robert Mapplethorpe, constructing a lyrical and multilayered narrative. Julien explores the ambiguous sexual subtexts of the period of rich artistic expression, and the enduring cultural significance of the pioneer s work. Shot in sumptuous monochrome, the film combines archival footage with the newly staged set pieces, fantasy sequences, and an imagined love story. The result is a beautiful and ultimately celebratory piece about artistic expression and the nature of desire. [book link]