Almost two years ago on September 18th, 2004, Dave Chappelle along with Director Michel Gondry helped give back to the community by staging a huge hip-hop, comedy block party at the intersection of Quincy and Downing Streets in Brooklyn, New York in a documentary with great humor, music and heart.
No doubt inspired by the infamous 50 million dollar contract Dave Chappelle signed six weeks earlier, you can see that Chappelle wanted to do something positive, something for the people. His persona throughout this film, while still very funny, loses a lot of the rough edge his Comedy Central skits made him famous for and he comes across as downright humane.
Teaming up with former music video and ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ director Michel Gondry who was smart enough to simply take a small crew and let Chappelle do his thing, the documentary inter cuts between Chappelle recruiting people off the streets in Brooklyn and in his hometown of Dayton, Ohio and the block party footage which features some great performances from Kanye West, Mos Def, Common, Erykah Badu, The Roots, Jill Scott and a great reunion gathering of The Fugees who had not performed together for seven years.
The footage of Chappelle walking around his old stomping ground of Dayton, Ohio is to see him at his most affable. Carrying around golden tickets which will provide a bus ride, some meals and a hotel room to and from Brooklyn, he begins to recruit whoever he comes across, young or old, white or black, doesn’t matter. Funny, awkward and sometimes touching (one older white gentleman said he would be interested if he wasn’t too deaf to hear the music), these scenes are well-captured with Chappelle building to inviting the whole of the Ohio Central State College Music Marching Band as well as forging history by finding the only black man in America named Millsap (the music director).
He also takes to the streets of Brooklyn in a car belting out invitations with a megaphone, and meeting an elderly border-line crazy couple who live in and own one of the most freakish-looking buildings I have ever seen. Assumingly to get their permission (we see the building behind the stage later on), Chappelle talks to the couple about their “house” and finds out they have been adding on to it piece by piece for decades, with rooms, floors and walls filled with various knick-knacks and ideas, rooms only accessible by flimsy ladders, etc. It’s like an MC Escher painting combined with a crack-house. The couple deems it the “Broken Angel” building for reasons explained in the film.
We also see Chappelle visit the local Goodwill and community centers in the area where Chappelle seems equally at home surrounded by kids. The first half of the film focuses more on this footage and less on the concert but as the film proceeds, the concert starts to become the main focus with rehearsal footage also interspersed here. The feel of the rehearsal footage and the concert footage has a very welcoming tone to it with Dave Chappelle clearly making everybody at ease and providing a familial atmosphere.
A celebration of community and human-spirit, Chappelle clearly chose these artists as they have something positive to say, even under the guise of rap and hip-hop which can sometimes suffer through assumption. That you are not a real fan of rap or hip hop shouldn’t matter too much as the footage is captured in a unique way with the performers coming off with no pretense whatsoever and Chappelle popping in every so often with comedy breaks (he pulls a Mr.T look-a-like from the crowd and challenges him to an MC contest in which Mr. T gets a little grabby)
The film is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen and is enhanced for widescreen televisions. Special Features include a 28-minute documentary “September in Brooklyn: The Making of Block Party” which focuses on the planning of the block party and pre-production elements. Considering there is not much differential between this featurette and the feature as they are both “documentaries”, this almost feels like an extended scene taken out of the film as well as the 19-minute “Ohio Players”, a featurette focusing on Chappelle in Ohio.
Last is the option to watch the film with ‘Extended Musical Performances’ which adds about 7-minutes of music to the film - obviously recommended if you are a fan of the music. It is a nice collection of extras but where would that hilarious Chappelle commentary be? Odd omission considering what a personal project this film seemed to be for him.
An egoless and joyful experience, if you want humor, it’s here with bells on along with some of the best rap/hip-hop concert footage caught on film. As Kanye West leads the Central State Band in a rousing performance of “Jesus Walks” or as Lauryn Hill belts out a perfect rendition of “Killing Me Softly”, if you don’t like the music then the atmosphere will certainly prove infectious. Dave Chappelle and Michel Gondry provide a sincere and soulful film about humor and music along with an exuberant look at humanity and individuality in general.
Dave Chappelle’s Block Party is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD’s database for more information.
Your Talkback on this Story