Irgendwie ist es jetzt schon wieder super lang her, dass ich den gesehen hab. Hatte danach halt nicht instant Gedanken zum Film und dachte mir daher ich würds einfach erst bisschen später schreiben also mal schauen was ich jetzt so zusammenkratze. Also ganz prinzipiell ich fand ihn sehr enjoyable aber er hat mich jetzt nicht komplett gecatcht, also ich fand ihn nicht so gripping va wenn ichs jetzt so direkt vergleiche mit Marty Supreme. Ich fand das Setting super cool und like soo beautifully shot. Ich fand den Vampir Teil schon echt bizarr muss ich sagen, also das hätt ich auch auslassen können und i think i would have preferred that. Also wenns einfach party Abend ist und irgendwie wird ihm dann td gesagt that the white dudes were planning on killing him. Portrayal davon fand ich toll aber irgendwie ging das auch sehr unter in dem Ganzen. Also es wirkte mehr so wie ein we'll add that to make it deep. Es war irgendwas about the last scene wo ich mir dachte oh okay now it makes sense aber dann im Nachhinein dacht ich mir doch wieder naja so krass wars jetzt auch nicht. Aber ich weiss auch einfach nicht mehr was es war which probably speaks to the fact that it just wasn't that impressionable. Ich werd mir jetzt noch paar Reviews durchlesen und I might get back to this.

Historical context

after WWI many black veterans came back from fighting for america overseas expecting more opportunities but were met with the same oppression

‚Music as a way to numb pain‘ when Slim is recounting what happened to his buddies who he used to play music with, and the lynching that had occurred to one of them and the awful things done to him, including chopping off his manhood. After ending the story neither Sammy or Stack say anything, hell, they don't really get the chance to, because Slim immediately starts tapping and humming to the beat of the Blues in his head.

the effect of Sammie's music is fundamentally different depending on his audience. when he is playing with and for black people, it is a moment of release and deep connection. when it is being listened to people who want to assimilate him (vampires), they want to take it as their own. and this has parallels in the real world.

Irish as oppressed turned oppressor One might say that it is a story of how the Irish exchanged their greenness for whiteness, and collaborated with the dominant white culture to continue the oppression of African Americans. Ironically, Irish Catholics came to this country as an oppressed race yet quickly learned that to succeed they had to in turn oppress their closest social class competitors, free Northern blacks.

Once the Irish secured themselves in those jobs, they made sure blacks were kept out. They realized that as long as they continued to work alongside blacks, they would be considered no different. Becoming white meant losing their greenness, i.e., their Irish cultural heritage and the legacy of oppression and discrimination back home

‚vampirism as a metaphor for assimilation‘

vapirism as stealing church as essentially vampirism scene of sammie and preacher dad hugging dads head is angled towards his neck while sammies head is turned away flashes of remmick in between shots

language of remmick resembles church language ‘all becoming family’ …

Assimilation as central theme I thought one really compelling way the movie depicts it is through our three main characters. We get kind of three specific avenues of handling assimiliation.

Stack - He ultimately succumbs to the assimilation. He gets to join society and live "happily" forever. The mid credits scene really drives this home and I thought it was fascinating how non-judgemental the film felt of Stack and Mary in that scene. I thought Stacks line about how Sammy could live "without pain" was really important here. Assimilating into the broader culture makes his life much easier, but sacrifices parts of his heritage and culture.

Smoke - Completey rejects assimilation and as such goes down fighting, literally killing an entire Klan chapter. He still gets his happy ending though, reuniting with his partner and child, he gets to stay completely connected to his culture and his roots, but he dies for it.

Sammie - Sammie ends up being kind of a third way. He doesn't abandon his music and the pull of broader society as his father desires, but he creates his own bastion for his culture at Peraline's. He holds on to and shares his cultural heritage, but Smoke had to purchase that privilege with his blood, which Stack drives home when he tells Sammie he promised Smoke he wouldn't come for Sammie.

Freedom as a central theme - Freedom is cash - Smoke and Stack come back to the South with cash that gives them the 'right' to buy property, the right to negotiate for talent and goods - His escape from his life, from the expectations and barriers set by his father, is the freedom he feels through music. The main track into the film that you reference, that marvelous scene where the boundaries of time and space are broken, is a song Sammy wrote specifically talking to his want to be free from his father's expectations. - We hear the story of Delta Slim and his friend whose talents led them to wealth, to allow them to dream of freedom, only for the reality of oppression and racism to lead them to a bitter end.

Dad asking Sammie to give up music= asking him to give up freedom and accept established dynamics. Dont fight, dont dream.

Der Film macht mit dem ganzen Kontext obv Film mehr Sinn und i might have to rewatch it und vielleicht check ichs nach dem ganzen lesen einfach immer noch nicht ganz. Ich fang jetzt vorne an und geh den plot durch und mal schauen ob dann alles irgendwie klickt. Also die Stacksmoke Twins kommen zurück aus Chichago. Sie sagen Chicaog is the same as here just with bigger buildings. Better the devil you know than the devil you don't. Sie haben in hopes of fulfilling their dreams die Italians und die Irish beraubt. & wollen sich jetzt den Traum eines eigenen Juke Joints erfüllen. Was für sie Freiheit bedeutet, denn at the time no white person would sell to a black person, was Mary glaub ich later on auch sagt. Sammie wird von den Brothers abgeholt Okay also wir haben Remmick who comes to America as an opprossed people und ist breits ein Vampir? i think. Und seine Idee ist das gaze race Problem zu umgehen by making them all the same - assimilation - one race - one family- was eben into das Ganze Religionsding reinspielt. Alle Charakter haben in some way gesinned. Sei es die Stack Brothers by stealing, their girly weil sie beide eigentlich nen Husband haben, Slim mit seinem Alkoholismus, ... Und alle suchen nach Freiheit?