{"id":22599,"date":"2024-03-24T00:02:44","date_gmt":"2024-03-24T04:02:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=22599"},"modified":"2024-03-24T00:07:07","modified_gmt":"2024-03-24T04:07:07","slug":"shirley-an-inspirational-maverick-is-revived-through-film","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=22599","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Shirley’ : An Inspirational Maverick Is Revived Through Film"},"content":{"rendered":"

Filmmaker John Ridley<\/a>, back in 2013, <\/span>won an <\/span>Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay<\/span> with the film <\/span>12 Years a Slave<\/i><\/b><\/span>. Whilst making more feature films after that, eleven years later the writer-director returns to the big screen with another compelling story about the African-American plight in the United States. <\/span><\/p>\n

Shirley<\/i><\/b> retraces the inspiring journey of the <\/span>first Black woman elected to Congress and political icon: Shirley Chisholm. The film chronicles her trailblazing run for president of the U.S., during her audacious and boundary-breaking 1972 electoral campaign. Her legacy echoes the issues tackled in our current affairs and the release of the Netflix movie serendipitously coincides with what would have been Shirley\u2019s 100<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> birthday.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Regina King plays the titular character and has also produced the film. It was her labour of love, to which she dedicated 15 years with her sister Reina, who also produced it and acted in it. This incredible story was quite unknown to the masses, which triggered the sisters to make it into a film. They worked closely with a team of writers that included Sonya Winton, until years later the project landed in the hands of John Ridley. The emotional preparation, along with the historical research was outstanding. Regina King thoroughly studied every move, gesture and vocal inflection of Shirley Chisholm, whose accent was a combination of a woman who had lived in Barbados and Brooklyn. Also in terms of personality there\u2019s an enthralling complexity about this woman: feisty, determined, patient, humorous, focused, unstoppable.<\/span><\/p>\n

The cast that brings to life this important page in human history is phenomenal. Lance Reddick delivers a compelling Wesley \u201cMac\u201d Holder, Shirley\u2019s fiercely loyal presidential campaign advisor;<\/span> Tony winner Brian Stokes Mitchell brings to life <\/i>Shirley\u2019s political strategist and campaign manager Stanley Thompson;<\/span> s<\/span>tage and screen veteran Michael Cherrie plays the role of Shirley\u2019s supportive, but increasingly strained husband Conrad Chisholm. Oscar and Golden Globe-nominated actor Terrence Howard acts as Arthur Hardwick, a fundraiser and advisor to Shirley\u2019s campaign. Andr\u00e9 Holland is effective as D.C. congressional delegate Walter Fauntroy, and even more remarkable is W. Earl Brown, as Alabama governor George Wallace, who also sought the Democratic party nomination for president in the 1972 race. Oscar-Nominated actor Lucas Hedges gently brings to the screen Shirley\u2019s former intern Robert Gottlieb, who took leave from Cornell to be her youth coordinator. Along these men, there are some formidable female characters brilliantly performed by an array of talented actresses. Reina King plays Muriel St. Hill, Shirley\u2019s sister and one of her toughest critics. Christina Jackson had the responsibility of embodying Barbara Lee \u2014 a prot\u00e9g\u00e9e of Shirley\u2019s who worked on her presidential campaign \u2014 who was eventually elected to Congress in 1998 and currently serves California\u2019s 12<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> congressional district and even visited the set while the film was in production.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Shirley<\/i><\/b> shines a light on a trailblazing lady who has been ignored through time, but paved the way for inclusivity as much as Malcom X or Martin Luther King, if not more since she was also born female. Chisholm represents an example for our time, as producer Anikah McLaren <\/span>has expressed: <\/span>\u201cto be civically minded is timeless and yet feels as timely as ever today.<\/i>\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

In John Ridley\u2019s motion picture,<\/span> the historical account blends stupendously with the universal message personified by this groundbreaking woman of colour. The ultimate take away is utterly galvanising, in line with Chisholm\u2019s creed to be \u2018unbought and unbossed.\u2019 The picture is a beacon of hope and encouragement for the younger generation to dare to defy conventions and be a catalyst of change for the betterment of society. <\/span><\/p>\n

Final Grade: B<\/span><\/p>\n

Check out more of Chiara\u2019s articles<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n