Get On Up: The James Brown Story
“I’m James Brown and I made a difference. Y'all cats might not own my records, but you can bet your bottom dollar every record you own got a piece of me in it. Ain't nobody out here today -- rapping, singing, whatever they doing -- ain't been touched by James Brown.” --Chadwick Boseman as James Brown
Get On Up is the biographical story of one of music’s biggest and most notorious icons, James Brown. Though most in my generation may not own his albums, songs like “I feel good” and “Get On Up,” have most definitely graced our ears at one point or another. The movie documents the rise of a star and takes us into his unfortunate demise, until it brings us back full circle to his comeback performance. This biographical drama is not unlike the many that came before it: The Temptations, Whitney, Aaliyah, Cadillac Records, Why Do Fools Fall In Love?, What’s Love Got To Do With It?, and so on and so forth. They all document the rise to some of the biggest names in music and some of their biggest pitfalls, while educating us to some of their biggest hits. However, what distinguishes Get On Up from the aforementioned films, is not only the story, but the way in which the film tells the story.
In the beginning is the end. Yes, you heard me right; the first shot we see is a long shot of James Brown striding out of a dark hall in a vibrant red suit. In the background we can just make out the continuous chanting of our star’s name. Overlaying the chanting are the voices of the past, until it all stops and you hear only that “James Brown don't need no one.” And then it cuts to the drugs on the table in 1988 Augusta Georgia. We follow as James Brown does his drug of choice before he drives to one of the properties he owns. He goes into the bathroom of the property and finds that someone has gone number two in his bathroom. In response, we see James Brown grab a rifle from his truck and waltz back into the building to find out who went number two in his bathroom. While he questions them, there is a moment where we, the audience, hear loud random soul music before it abruptly stops and James continues his tirade. This is the point in which we realize the drugs that our star had taken are really kicking in now. When he finds that the culprit is a scared woman, he sits her down and begins to tell her a story and that is where our journey truly begins.
The story of James Brown is told in a first person narrative by Chadwick Boseman, who is playing our main character. James Brown was a very complicated individual and so choosing an actor for this role was very important. The director went out on a bit of a limb because Chadwick was not a very established actor per say. But with stars like Jill Scott, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Tika Sumpter, and True Blood's Nelsan Ellis gracing the screen, the movie was sure to draw a crowd. The acting was a crucial part in telling the story, and the actors picked are what made the movie really sing. Anyone else could not have played that part as well as Chadwick, especially when it came to cinematic technique.
The story of James Brown is told in a first person narrative by Chadwick Boseman, who is playing our main character. James Brown was a very complicated individual and so choosing an actor for this role was very important. The director went out on a bit of a limb because Chadwick was not a very established actor per say. But with stars like Jill Scott, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Tika Sumpter, and True Blood's Nelsan Ellis gracing the screen, the movie was sure to draw a crowd. The acting was a crucial part in telling the story, and the actors picked are what made the movie really sing. Anyone else could not have played that part as well as Chadwick, especially when it came to cinematic technique.
One technique used frequently in this movie that I really like, is when the main character, James Brown, breaks the fourth wall. He does this frequently throughout the movie and it shows us that in those moments he is speaking directly to us, the audience. There are no cues or signs that we need to clue in on because the character is having a direct conversation with us, making us feel as if he were sitting on our couch with us. If you’ve ever watched Shrek, then you know that people have layers, like an onion. James Brown was a man with many layers, most of which are explained through cinematic language. A dual plot is made apparent in the beginning of the movie where we see our first flashback of James with his mom and he watches the interaction between his mom and dad when he gets home from work. From our perspective it looks like aggression but it later turns to sexual need. Fast forward into the movie, and we see that this contributes to how James treats his woman in the future.
The misc-en-scene created a very diverse atmosphere that allowed us to follow the story of our star. From backwoods to Hollywood, the setting and overall atmosphere allow us to keep up with the story as it jumps the time line. The clothes also help to tell the story of a changing time through the fashion ins and outs of the stage costumes.
The misc-en-scene created a very diverse atmosphere that allowed us to follow the story of our star. From backwoods to Hollywood, the setting and overall atmosphere allow us to keep up with the story as it jumps the time line. The clothes also help to tell the story of a changing time through the fashion ins and outs of the stage costumes.
A patterns develops in the movie that every time we are in the presence of adult James and he tells us of a lesson he’s learned, we are transported back to his childhood where we then watch him learn the lesson. We experience these dual plots through a majority of the movie: going from his childhood, to his teen years, to his adult life, all in what appears to be sporadic moments. We do not come to the actual present of the movie until we experience the emotional trauma James feels at losing the one person who has been with him through everything. And that is when we come back to James running away with his rifle and being caught by the police. Then we fast forward to the clip we saw in the beginning, only this time we can identify the voices and they all coalesce to the chanting of our main character's name as he takes the stage for the final performance of the movie. This is a very emotional moment as we can see from the close-up on his face as he scans the crowd for his desired guest, and as evidenced when he tells the band to stop playing and begins to sing A capella. This is still done with the close-up on his face to show his emotion and it also pans away to get a shot of the person he is serenading to show the emotional response. Get On Up is a great movie to watch and to analyze for cinematic technique, as a lot of them are used here, but it’s a great movie to watch for fun over and over. I would strongly recommend this movie to anyone who’s interested.
