SAY IT LOUD // A FILM REVIEW OF "MR. SOUL!"
If you've never heard of the groundbreaking television show "SOUL!," broadcast from 1968 to 1973, then your life is a little less bright. Equally, if you've never seen or heard the pure joy and exuberance of Ellis Haizlip, who produced and hosted (or co-hosted) almost all of the episodes, then you are in for a wonderful experience by watching MR. SOUL!, the new documentary chronicling the innovative program, as well as the life of Ellis Haizlip. Created at a time when the world was seeing the rise of the Civil Rights Movement, Ellis Haizlip crafted a beautiful and powerful show. Once that showcased Black and POC talent - Singers, Actors, Musicians, Dancers, Poets. Black Artists, brought to live in living color. Other networks advertised color programing, but it was filled with white stars. Here, Ellis truly showed color, from the artists they celebrated to the colorful set to the vibrant and psychedellic backdrops. It pulled both from up and coming acts to more experimental offerings. If you were a minority and had a vibrant story to tell, in whatever art form, Ellis wanted you.
This was a program that floated underneath the censors of the 60's and 70's. It was on Public Television, live and almost always uncensored (in fact, some of the acts would still not make the censors, even now in 2020). It was appointment television for the Black Arts Movement and stood out as a true original program. The guests were as varied as the Ellis's own taste: Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles, Ashford & Simpson, The Last Poets, Toni Morrison, Al Green, James Baldwin, Earth, Wind & Fire. Even Louis Farrakhan came on as a guest and Ellis, one of the only openly Black Men at the time, questioned him point blank about homosexuality. It was a stirring show and, as many of the talking heads throughout the film tell you, an incredibly exciting show to be a part of. The audience laughed and cheered, often unable to sit in their chairs and danced along with the musical acts. The power of "SOUL!" cannot be denied. Yet even with its resounding success, it was ultimately cancelled due to pressure from the Nixon Administration.
Co-Directed by Ellis' niece Melissa Haizlip and Sam Pollard and narrated by Blair Underwood, MR. SOUL! is bursting with joy, and truly feels like a love letter to a time where Black culture was celebrated weekly on national television. It's filled with incredible footage, directed and edited beautifully and truly lets you feel a bit of the excitement that the show created. It's so exciting that you'll want it to go on. And on. And on. May we be so lucky someday to be blessed again with such a luminous program.
GRADE: A
DIRECTED BY Melissa Haizlip, Sam Pollard NARRATED BY Blair Underwood Now Playing at Virtual Cinemas.