TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Limerculer A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

frankwiener Thanks to an electrifying script by Lorraine Hansberry and a very talented cast that so forcefully brings it to life, this is one stage play that triumphs on the wide screen where so many others have fallen flat. Other than a few scenes in a dismal bar called the "Kitty Kat", the entire film is shot in a small Chicago apartment that doesn't even have a private bathroom. The movie thrives on the writing and the acting alone. It's a remarkable cinematic accomplishment that does not fade at all with time. All of the performances are superb, especially those of Claudia McNeil as the strong family matriarch who questions the results of her years as a devoted, dedicated parent during hard times and Diana Sands as her rebellious, intellectual daughter who dares to defy the status quo and to experiment with unconventionality. Although this play is most definitely about race, specifically about being black in urban America at the time, flying in the face of conformity during those times took a special brand of courage and strength, regardless of one's race. I know this from personal experience. Beneatha Younger was tough, but she still had to mind her even tougher mother, as long as she remained in her house. The tense conflict of strong will proceeds from there.Sidney Poitier is a fine actor, but I found the restless, frustrated character of Walter Lee Younger exasperating and even annoying. Instead of foolishly losing most of his father's life insurance death benefit, he could have used even a small part of the proceeds wisely, such as learning a new trade. This was very painful and heartbreaking to witness.The playwright Lorraine Hansberry tragically passed away at the very young age of 34 only four short years after her exceptional play was successfully produced as this film. I would love to see more of what Ms. Hansberry might have created on that old Remington. What a loss.

Gideon24 A powerhouse ensemble cast is the primary selling point of the 1961 version of A Raisin in the Sun.This is the first film version of the play by Lorraine Hansberry that centers on the Younger clan, a black family living in a cramped Chicago tenement whose lives are about to be altered because of a financial windfall. Lena Younger (Claudia McNeil) is the strong, God-fearing matriarch of the family who is patiently awaiting the arrival of a $10,000 insurance check she is receiving because of the death of her husband. Walter Lee Younger (Sidney Poitier) is Lena's son, a chauffeur who wants to change his life by getting his mother to give him the money so that he can invest it in part ownership of a liquor store. Ruth Younger (Ruby Dee) is Walter Lee's level-headed wife and family referee, who has just learned she is pregnant with her second child; Beneatha Younger (Diana Sands), Walter Lee's sister, is a radical-thinking college student, , who wants to be a doctor someday and torn between her comfortable relationship with George (Louis Gossett) and an African student (Ivan Dixon) who is turning Beneatha's head by exposing her to her African heritage.This film sizzles primarily due to the conflict created between Lena and Walter Lee from Lena's belief that liquor is just a tool of the devil and Walter Lee's belief that his father would have wanted him to use the money to be more than a chauffeur and be the captain of his own destiny.As expected, a 1961 film with an all-black cast was filmed on a shoestring budget, but the powerhouse performances make this film appointment viewing. Next to To Sir with Love, this is my favorite Poitier performance...he is intense and riveting despite the fact that Poitier's screen persona is so much more intelligent than the character he is playing and yet he doesn't make a single false or affected move on screen. McNeil, Dee, and Sands provide solid support to Poitier, who completely dominates this film, but they never allow Poitier to blow them off the screen either. Loved Gossett as Beneatha's tight-ass fiancée too.The film works due to a compelling story and a charismatic performance from Poitier that makes this film still watchable after all these years. This film was remade for television twice with Danny Glover and Sean "Puffy" Combs taking over Poitier's role. It was also turned into a Broadway musical during the 1980's called Raisin.

David Conrad Segregation looms in the background of "A Raisin in the Sun." It is a silent, almost-invisible menace until its restrictions are challenged. Then it reveals itself as a smiling, soft-spoken white man with a briefcase. This is the external conflict the Younger family must eventually face as they attempt to move upward and outward in society, but the greater part of the film examines rifts within the Younger household itself. Each member of the family has his or her own values and aspirations that arise in part from their differences in age, gender, and education level, and the genius of the script is its ability to show these differences without taking sides. Characters clash over still- controversial topics such as atheism and abortion, making the film strikingly relevant over half a century later.

Lee Eisenberg Daniel Petrie perfectly adapts Lorraine Hansberry's play about an African-American family in 1950s Chicago. We see how the desperation of their existence drives every member of the family to do rash things, and how they have to fight racism every step of the way.Watching the movie, it struck me how "A Raisin in the Sun" must have looked when it debuted on Broadway, and then in cinemas. You see, this movie depicts not only an African-American family, but also a man from Africa, who helps the sister start thinking seriously about her heritage, and so she begins saying things that I would have expected to hear from Malcolm X. Moreover, the husband (Sidney Poitier) asks the sister's friend about why he wears "faggoty-looking white shoes". By that point, how many movies had employed derogatory language, much less anything about homosexuality? Without a doubt, this has to be seen as one of the movies representing the new path that cinema was taking in the 1960s, focusing more on real-life issues than escapism. And it is definitely one that I recommend. Also starring Ruby Dee, Diana Sands, Claudia McNeil, Roy Glenn, Louis Gossett, Ivan Dixon and Stephen Perry.