The read
It runs a compact 45m.
Synopsis
A black and white, fantasy-like recreation of high-society gay men during the Harlem Renaissance, with archival footage and photographs intercut with a story. A wake is going on, with mourners gathered around a coffin. Downstairs is an elegant bar where tuxedoed men dance and talk. One of them has a dream in which he comes upon Beauty, who seems to reject him, although when he awakes, Beauty is sleeping beside him. His story and his visits to the jazz and dance club are framed by voices reading from the poetry and essays of Hughes and others. The text is rarely explicit, but the freedom of gay Black men in the 1920s in Harlem is suggested and celebrated visually.
Ratings
IMDb6.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes70%
25 audience votes
Key crew
- Trevor MathisonOriginal Music Composer
- Wayson JonesOriginal Music Composer
- Peter SpencerOriginal Music Composer
- Isaac JulienDirector
- Isaac JulienScreenplay
Cast
- Ben EllisonAlex
- Matthew BaidooBeauty
- Akim MogajiJames
- John WilsonKarl
- Dencil WilliamsMarcus
- Guy BurgessDean
- Dublin James WahlbergCarlos
- Harry DonaldsonLeatherboy
- Jimmy SomervilleAngel
- Langston HughesSelf (archive footage)
- Stuart HallBritish (voice)
Stills
Themes
lgbtharlem renaissancegay theme