Title: Super Fly (1972)
Director: Gordon Parks Jr.
Duration: 1h 33m
Cast: Ron O’Neal, Sheila Frazier, Julius Harris
Super Fly is a classic blaxploitation film and one of the best from the 70s when the genre became widespread and gained mainstream acceptance. Coming just a year after Shaft (perhaps the most popular black film from that era), Super Fly is a rather amoral film, a shift from the tradition of making strong black characters some kind of heroes who always come to save the day.
In Super Fly, the main character is Priest (played by Ron O’Neal), a tall good looking negro with much more than a good fashion sense. A big-time cocaine dealer with a family he runs with his partner, he has ideas and one of them is to get out before he has to kill somebody or before somebody ices him. But getting out isn’t his only idea. His other idea is to put together all they have (about three hundred thousand dollars) and buy one last shipment which they’ll then sell within four months to get one million dollars. With his half, he believes he can finally get out of the game for good and have a life with his woman, Georgia (Sheila Frazier).
His plan is good on paper but like anything else, it’s harder said than done and Priest will soon find himself facing many trials and tribulations in pursuit of his exit from the rotten drug business he’s been in all his life. First, he had to deal with Scatter (Julius Harris), a father figure who has the connection and can get him the thirty keys of cocaine he wants to purchase. Scatter is a tough old man who doesn’t need any money and is retired. Convincing him to make a deal alone was a task on its own and Priest would have to find a way.
Priest was bent on getting out one way or another, even if it took longer, and so this meant he had to overcome obstacles that just wouldn’t come his way if he just stayed in his comfort zone. But since his comfort zone was getting to be uncomfortable for him already, he had to get out and he’ll do anything to get out. The classic antihero story.
The action was spectacular and for 1972, the picture is kind of revolutionary. It is, to say the least, a work of art, and the direction has been commended for decades now. The pace of the film is balanced and even though most of the scenes take time to develop, the runtime of 1h 33m couldn’t be more perfect for a movie like this.
Another talking point in Super Fly is the music. The soundtrack, performed by Curtis Mayfield is one of the reasons the film was such a big success. The title track of the Super Fly album released by Mayfield was a hit that climbed into the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. A monumental release that was.
Super Fly’s box office success was unprecedented as it grossed $30m over a budget of under $500,000. You just can’t make a film like that for the equivalent of that budget anymore. But in 1972, they did and it was a beauty. It’s such a beauty and not just because everyone in it was so well-dressed.
Rotten Tomatoes: 93%
IMDb: 6.4/10
Letterboxd: 3.3/5
Where to Watch Super Fly (1972)?
You can be able to stream Super Fly (1972) by renting or purchasing on
- Apple TV
- Google Play Movies
- Vudu
- Netflix
