Single Film Critical Study - Introduction

For Section C on the FM4: Varieties of Film Experience - Issues and Debates paper you are required to study Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song in detail, considering a range of critical debates surrounding the film, considering the film's context and its reception at the time the film was released compared with how it is perceived now.

You should also think about the ways that the application of a range of critical approaches, such as auteur, genre, narrative, institution and star have shaped your appreciation, understanding and enjoyment of the film - whilst also considering the social and political stance the film takes and the ways in which gender and ethnicity are presented.

We have looked in detail at the micro features of film such as cinematography (camerawork and lighting), mise-en-scene (setting, props, costume and figure behaviour), sound, editing and performance for your textual analysis coursework and practical work last year. To support the points you make about Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song you will need to closely analyse the use of film language across a number of scenes, so it would be useful to look again at the work we have done on film form.

At all times you should consider how you are being positioned as a spectator - whether that is through film language, an appreciation of context or a specific critical approach, and through engagement with the various critical voices that have discussed the film.

Knowing the movie inside out is crucial - as is selecting the most appropriate approach to apply to the film. For Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song I want you to consider the following approaches and ideas:

• The film's political agenda
• The representation of race/ethnicity
• The representation of gender and sex
• Genre - or, more broadly, the film movement known as Blaxploitation
• Auteur
• Narrative structure