Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 8, 1991 TAG: 9103080492
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
A former B-movie actor and television actor and director, Van Peebles has just finished directing his first theatrical feature, "New Jack City," and is now out on the promotion stump. He's funny, quick-witted and eager to talk about his movie, which opens today at the Valley View Mall 6 and Towers theaters.
"New Jack City" is an impressive entry in the current crop of gangster movies. It's even more impressive when you learn that it was made for $8.5 million in 36 days. That's less than half of what most features cost these days.
And though it might be easy to get carried away with success, Van Peebles has no illusions about the security of his future.
"As a first-time director, I'm not going to lie to you about the power I have. A year ago, I was on [the NBC television series] `Sonny Spoon' dancing around in different wigs. In five minutes I could be out there saying `Regular or Decaf?' Hollywood's not really black or white, it's green. It's economics. It's show business."
It was Van Peebles' experience as a TV actor that led to his work on the other side of the camera. Grunt work in bad B-movies led to supporting roles in "Heartbreak Ridge" and TV's "L.A. Law," and finally the lead for two years on "Sonny Spoon."
Producer Stephen Cannell let him direct episodes of "Sonny Spoon," and when that show was canceled, he asked Van Peebles to direct episodes of CBS' "Wise Guy" and Fox Television's, "21 Jump St."
"After doing those, where you have to shoot 8 or 9 pages [of script] a day, they brought me over to Fox film and said they'd like me to direct some pictures for them. I couldn't believe it; I went home and tap-danced on the ceiling."
But Van Peebles then got bogged down in "development hell," a series of endless meetings where nothing definite was decided.
At the same time, the people at Warner Bros. became interested in his TV work and he was able to use the competition between the two studios to his advantage.
Eventually, Warner offered him "New Jack City," a rough, fast-paced story about the birth of the crack cocaine business. Originally, the film was seen as a black project, much like his father's work in such classics as "Watermelon Man" and "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song", but Van Peebles wanted to cut against the grain of racial stereotypes.
"Usually in a cop movie that's predominantly white, they take a black guy, whose hairline starts [way back on his head], and make him the commissioner. He sits behind a desk and growls. Then they can say that the movie's integrated because they've got a black commissioner.
"I wanted to open up the film to involve Americans of all color. I wanted to take a white guy and put him on the front lines in terms of the action. So I called up Judd Nelson, who's very smart, and I basically said to him, `how would you like to play the white guy who gets to say all the lines to the brothers you ever wanted to say and get away with it.' He agreed."
The other lead roles are cast against type, too. Ex-gang member and rapper Ice-T is the protagonist, a police detective. Wesley Snipes is the slick, amoral gangster and comedian Chris Rock is a crack addict.
"There comes a point where you say, man, if someone doesn't see the world as a rainbow coalition, we're all in trouble. In the scene where Judd and Ice-T and Russell Wong have to disarm a bomb, you have a black man and a white man and a yellow man having to get along quickly or they're going to be blown up. And I like little things like that. No one ever gets it as a metaphor but . . ."
The film was shot on location in Harlem, the Bronx and New Jersey. Local people, including some addicts, were used as extras. There's no question that the film is anti-drug, but at the same time, it is realistically anti-drug. Van Peebles said that he kept a cartoon of a black kid on the wall of his office while they were shooting.
The caption read, " `No job, no social programs, no education,' and a guy comes along and says, `You want to make $500 a day selling crack?' Just say no to what?' "
"When we were up there shooting, we met a lot of kids who have very few choices. But it's very hard when everything in our society says `Consume, consume, have goodies' for a `have' to tell a `have-not,' not to get it from drugs. Until other opportunities are provided, it's a very difficult, tough situation."
Of course, Van Peebles is enthusiastic about the film's chances at the box office - that's the point of this kind of promotion - but he's not starry-eyed about his future and seems uncomfortable with the label "black filmmaker." Instead, he wants to be "just a filmmaker."
In person and on screen in "New Jack City" it's obvious that Van Peebles is concerned with the racial inequality that still exists, and he's trying to do something about it, but he's not angry. He appeared to be more of a skeptical optimist.
"This is a historic moment in black films. Five years ago, I wouldn't have gotten this job. Five years from now, I might not get this job. But in the climate of Spike Lee and the Hudlins and people like Melvin Van Peebles and Gordon Parks who did it first, there's this resurgence of minorities in films and I happen to be there. We've been invited to the table now, so we'll see how it works out.
"The catch is, you can make `Full Metal Jacket,' `Casualties of War,' and `84 Charlie Mopic' and if those movies don't do well, they'll probably say Vietnam movies don't do well. They won't say white movies don't do well. But if you make `To Sleep With Anger' and `Do the Right Thing' and `New Jack City' and they don't do well, what will the reaction be? It will be interesting to see."
by CNB