As part of the multimedia approach that I'm taking to my research, I watched the movie Slam last night. It was interesting, and especially enjoyable to see Saul Williams in action since he's been referenced in one of the research articles that I've read. Below, I've copied the description as is presented on the case. The title of this post also links to a trailer. For some reason, the sound isn't working on my comp, but hopefully it'll work for you.
Slam: Special Edition
Ray Joshua (played by real –life poet Saul Williams) finds solace from prison and the violence of his inner-city neighborhood through poetry. A writing teacher (Sonja Sohn) he meets in jail convinces him to take his private art to a public forum – a poetry slam competition – and their relationship progresses. The film earned a Goldman Camera Award at the Cannes Film Festival and the Grand Jury Prize and the Sundance Film Festival.
Rated R 103 Minutes 1998
4 comments:
sound works!
Poetry Slam... sounds like freestyle rapping competitions, a la 8mile or something, for white people! bringing previously written material sounds interesting though... the messages could be much better expressed that way...
Hey Kev! (I feel oddly like Dear Abby right now). There's actually a large link between hip-hop culture and slam. One of the articles I was reading actually detailed hip-hop poetry, emphasizing that the artist needs to be proficient at both hip-hop and poetry independently in order to master a form that uses features of both.
Have you watched any of the clips? I'd really recommend that! The life slam was AMAZING! Some of the poems had very powerful and/or poignant messages. It was incredible!
I'll check out some of those clips now.
Sincerely,
Deprived of Poetry.
You belong at UCSF. You applied there, right?
Watching these vids reminds me of some very similar performances I saw in the Berekely/Oakland/SF area. I think you'd enjoy it very much there.
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