Black in Period Films

The classic 1997 film Eve's Bayou is now available on Amazon Prime. Synopsis : Over the course of a long, hot Louisiana summer, a 10-year-old black girl, Eve Batiste (Jurnee Smollett), discovers that her family's affluent existence is merely a facade. The philandering of her suave doctor father, Louis (Samuel L. Jackson), creates a rift, throwing Eve's mother, Roz (Lynn Whitfield), and teenage sister, Cisely (Meagan Good), into emotional turmoil. Eve manages to find some solace with her aunt, Mozelle (Debbi Morgan). Written and Directed by Kasi Lemmons. I've included the trailer down below for those of you that haven't see Eve's Bayou yet.

Like many films of its kind Stompin' at the Savoy begins with actual vintage images of Black people from the portrayed time period. I think this is done for two reasons. 1. It helps transition the viewers into the story and time period. 2. It is a device that is used to remind the audience that Black Americans were actually present during that era. Regardless of the reason I like the effect it gives during the viewing experience. The reason why this device works is because the entire film works towards fully immersing the viewers into the period of spirit of the era. I really enjoyed the first half of the film. It was very enjoyable to see beautiful Black women of various shades decked out in period correct 1930's attire. You could put screenshots along side actual photos from the period and not know which one is real and which one is from the film. What do you think? The fun music and dancing at the Savoy (the famous Harlem nightclub) pulled me right ...