Being the independent movie junkie that I am, I had to take time out last week to see the Boston-based film “Business is War”, written and directed by Dorchester native and Emerson graduate Kamal Gordon.
The story details the hustle lifestyle of Sikes, Jimmy and Zokee - three friends with different skills and paths. Sikes moves onto bigger things in a high profile company, and finds that while the players may change, the hustle stays the same.
The story was incredibly rich, layered and multifaceted. Gordon really went “there” to let us see not just the hustler side of the game but the man. He addressed the misconceptions and the preconceived notions of what a black man is, which is sometimes in opposition to what society thinks that black men should be.
There are many scenes that I really loved in the film but I have two absolute favorites. The first is a scene where Sikes is going for a internship position and was asked a define business terminology, which he answered correctly. From flashing from different scenes from the ‘board room’ to the streets, the film showed that the business world and the “hood” hustle life is not all that different depending on how you look at it. Brilliant.
I also enjoyed the montage where the mostly menacing Zookie shows his softer side with buying chips for the neighborhood and demonstrating his culinary skills while the original song “You think you know me, but you have no idea” played in the background. Music Producer Eric “Antagonist” Johnson and Filmmaker Gordon brought us into the story at this point and forced us to reflect on our own misconceptions and preconceived notions.
Dustin Dupique of Handsome Boy Clothing did a fantastic job on the costume design. Sikes was fresh to death! Each member of the cast was always dressed appropriately and the continuity of their style was maintained throughout the film, which was also very impressive.
Things that were a bit challenging for me in the film were mostly aesthetics. The sound quality could have been better, though Hibernian Hall has poor sound quality to begin with. And the lighting, I understand the Film de Noir feel, but at times, we were really in the dark! It was also a bit overdone. There was a bit of pacing in the film that I felt was out of step at times. I wanted the lines to be delivered a bit more quickly. This was somewhat explained in the Q and A where it was discovered that the dialogue was outlined and mostly improv.
I really sincerely enjoyed the film. I was blown away by the depth of the content and inspired by the dedication of the group who spent two years in it’s creation and delivery. After winning awards in the Roxbury Film Festival and Martha’s Vineyard Festivals, the film now goes onto a film festival in South Africa and will be available on DVD in December.
For more information about the movie click here!
