Say what you will about Larry Cohen, for me he is the sui generis of maverick, grindhouse directors. He is my urban guerrilla film maker of choice. Who else shoots all over NYC without permits, unleashing wounded Harlem kingpins on unsuspecting midday shoppers on 5th Avenue, or racing cabs down NYC sidewalks with thugs in hot pursuit, on foot no less? Although he has been slotted in the grindhouse and cult categories, Cohen doesn't really belong in either, mixing classic Hollywood b-unit gangster formula and 1970s blaxploitation, with a healthy measure of social comment bludgeoned in.
BC is a well-known tale of the rise and fall of a crime boss that follows the conventions of it's namesake, Little Caesar. It's protagonist, played by a convincing and charismatic Fred Williamson, wants power, revenge and some social and economic justice for the people of Harlem. He gets it, by Bogarting his way into the confidence of a local Mafia boss, blackmailing corrupt city officials into submission and siphoning some of his ill-gotten gains into legitimate black owned business. But as his ambition and power grow, so does the hatred of his enemies and the alienation of his family, girlfriend and allies. Like Caesar, he is headed for a fall, but unlike Rico, it's a fall that grandstands it's way across Manhattan in broad daylight, even making a pit stop for a little well earned payback, culminating, surprisingly in a homage to Buñuel.
If you like slick and polished, don't look here. As cheap as a low budget film can get, Cohen used his own basement and his mom's house as sets, and every time he comes up with an expensive car, I wonder who he borrowed it from. But his best set is great, a raw, gritty and unsuspecting NYC of the early 70s. The acting is sometimes sub-par or over-the-top (this fits though) but often good, especially by Gloria Hendry, girlfriend (who we don't see enough of), Julius Harris, estranged Dad, Minnie Gentry, Mama Gibbs and Williamson best of all. The soundtrack, by the Godfather himself, James Brown, is perfect, and probably the best of any film of this genre.
BC is a well-known tale of the rise and fall of a crime boss that follows the conventions of it's namesake, Little Caesar. It's protagonist, played by a convincing and charismatic Fred Williamson, wants power, revenge and some social and economic justice for the people of Harlem. He gets it, by Bogarting his way into the confidence of a local Mafia boss, blackmailing corrupt city officials into submission and siphoning some of his ill-gotten gains into legitimate black owned business. But as his ambition and power grow, so does the hatred of his enemies and the alienation of his family, girlfriend and allies. Like Caesar, he is headed for a fall, but unlike Rico, it's a fall that grandstands it's way across Manhattan in broad daylight, even making a pit stop for a little well earned payback, culminating, surprisingly in a homage to Buñuel.
If you like slick and polished, don't look here. As cheap as a low budget film can get, Cohen used his own basement and his mom's house as sets, and every time he comes up with an expensive car, I wonder who he borrowed it from. But his best set is great, a raw, gritty and unsuspecting NYC of the early 70s. The acting is sometimes sub-par or over-the-top (this fits though) but often good, especially by Gloria Hendry, girlfriend (who we don't see enough of), Julius Harris, estranged Dad, Minnie Gentry, Mama Gibbs and Williamson best of all. The soundtrack, by the Godfather himself, James Brown, is perfect, and probably the best of any film of this genre.