White Man's Burden (1995)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Desmond Nakano

Writer (WGA):

Desmond Nakano (written by)

Release Date:

1 December 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Two men at odds in a world turned upside down.

Plot:

The story takes place in alternative America where the blacks are members of social elite, and whites are inhabitants of inner city ghettos...

Plot Keywords:

Corrupt Police | Alternative History | Prejudice | Racism | Punk

Cast

John Travolta	...	Louis Pinnock
Harry Belafonte	...	Thaddeus Thomas
Kelly Lynch	...	Marsha Pinnock
Margaret Avery	...	Megan Thomas
Tom Bower	...	Stanley
Andrew Lawrence	...	Donnie Pinnock
Bumper Robinson	...	Martin
Tom Wright	...	Lionel
Sheryl Lee Ralph	...	Roberta
Judith Drake	...	Dorothy
Robert Gossett	...	John
Wesley Thompson	...	Williams
Tom Nolan	...	Johansson
Willie C. Carpenter	...	Marcus
Michael Beach	...	Policeman #1 Outside Bar

Also Known As:

White Man (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong language and some violence.

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

France | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Australia:MA | Norway:15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

420-422 Avalon Boulevard, Wilmington, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

A Band Apart

Trivia:

John Travolta took the role at Quentin Tarantino's urging.

Quotes:

[Last lines. Mrs. Pinnock has just refused to accept from Mr. Thomas the money he owed her husband]
Thaddeus Thomas: What, isn't it enough?
Marsha Pinnock: How much is enough, Mr. Thomas? How much will ever be enough?
[turns and walks away]

Soundtrack:

Tripping Billies

summary

When I was watching this movie I was sincerely touched by the images seen in there. Nakano has brilliantly shown us what is like to be white and what is like to be black. However, I think that he used too much stereotypes and he's been too straight by reversing the lives of people. Well, in our society, many african americans suffer but white people do too. For example, in a city where I live, the majority of people are white, and the majority of them are poor. Binghamton is a small town! Such drastic difference in race and standard of living is mainly apparent in the big cities like New York or L. A. Wwhat is satirical about 'burden' is that wealthy blacks live like they are of European descent. The images like black Virgin Mary or the Ancient Greek sclupture painted in black give us the idea that their ancestors were from Europe, not from Africa, which is very weird. When I saw that the whites live in slums and that blacks live in Beverly Hills, I had a feeling that one day, a good but fun-loving magician came to a modern American city. Then he went to Beverly Hills and painted all the white people there in black as wells as he went to black ghettos like Watts (L.A.) or Crown Heights (New York) and painted their inhabitans in white and nothing else. I guess Nakano wanted to teach us a lesson; no kind of any abuse should be allowed and that some rich people have to care a little bit more about those who are oppressed and do not have all the accesses. That's how nobody in this country is going to be ignorant. Overall, I'm saying that 'white man's burden' is the best grotesque I have ever seen.