Direction: Shaka King
Country: USA
This dramatization of the events that led to the killing of the 21-year-old Black Panther Party chairman of the Illinois chapter, Fred Hampton, in 1969, is mounted with a contextual insight that expedites the viewer’s understanding of the ideologically complex politics behind every act.
Moved by Che Guevara’s slogan ‘words are beautiful but action is supreme’, Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya) aims to take care of Chicago by making a pact with the black gang The Crowns. What he’s unaware of is that former carjacker Bill O’Neal (Lakeith Stanfield), a man he trusts and even promoted to security captain of the party, is an infiltrated FBI informer sent by the mundane agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons) to frame him. Comparing the Panthers to the KKK, the latter states that both groups have the ability to sow hatred and inspire terror.
On occasion, the film vacillates in terms of energy, but then we find spots where everything gets vibrant and trenchant again. The two indissiociable sides of the movement are clearly outlined - the activism against racial oppression and the armed wing as a response to unjust conditions and deliberate aggressions.
Through key passages, the second-time director Shaka King reveals the grievous inner wounds and scars of the black fighters as well as the hatred and domination of the white hunters, adding a layer of poignancy on the topic of American racism. The final minutes include excerpts of a revelatory interview given by O’Neal in 1989 with the public TV series Eyes on the Prize.
