The last black man in San Francisco is a poetic explosion of love and home

The first thing about the last black man in San Francisco that caught my attention was the title. It projects an atmosphere of activism, sadness, pride and gentrification, all themes integrated into the film's exquisite history. But finally, the last black man in San Francisco talks about the importance of home and community in a way that made my heart beat.

"This is not a film that attacks people, the title may give the impression that people feel that way," movie director Joe Talbot said in his first film. in San Francisco. "It's … a love letter to San Francisco." The film, which has received praise for Sundance earlier this year, opens widely on Friday.

The last black man in San Francisco follows Jimmie Fails, who works in a retirement home and dreams of living in the Victorian house built by his grandfather decades ago. Jimmy's home and family ideals make him less clear about the reality of life in San Francisco in 2019. He is part of an increasingly restricted black community that has been set aside by the rich, for decades.

Playing Horatio at Jimmy's Hamlet is his best friend, Playwright Mount (Jonathan Majors). The two men are looking for a connection to their lost community and a sense of purpose in a new San Francisco filled with multi-million dollar homes and technicians who party on trolleybuses.

The film reveals their vulnerabilities and their humanity, which is still missing from the black characters. And it's their humanity that will eventually shake you up, make you laugh and get angry at what happened to them in San Francisco, both literally and metaphorically.

Jimmie Fails is played by actor Jimmie Fails, who grew up in San Francisco with Talbot. The story is based on what has actually happened to the Fails family. After living in an old Victorian home with his father, aunt, uncle and cousins, Fails was forced to move into a housing project where he met Talbot.

The Last Black Man, in San Francisco, fictitiously describes Fails and Talbot's experiences while taking inspiration from the Greek epic poem The Odyssey, using even a modern version of a Greek choir in the form of a team of street who reprimands Jimmy and Mont.

The film addresses the gentrification of San Francisco not with a slap, but by inscribing it in the hearts of his characters and his neighborhoods. You see the burden of being put aside instead of being preached about it.

"If we can generate the conversation and listen to what the young people say, we will see that our expectations are not too different from their expectations," said Danny Glover, who played and produced the film.

The last black man of San Francisco is the most beautiful and the most authentic movie of the city. At one point, there is a long hit on California Street, with its massive hill occupying most of the screen. The top of the Bay Bridge points to it while Jimmy zigzags down the hill on a skateboard. The movie operation itself is impressive because of the steep hill, but the photo also shows just how isolated Jimmy is from this beautiful city.

While Talbot's poetic eye shows the harsh realities of a changing city, it also focuses on what makes San Francisco special. The scenes are dotted with skaters, artists, nudists and fog. You will not see "this picture" of the Golden Gate Bridge in almost every other movie taking place in San Francisco. Instead, you live in nooks, nooks and vistas that only someone who has lived here knows.

The visual beauty is animated by the hypnotic partition of Emile Mosseri. If the heart of the film is the relationship between Jimmy and Mont, music is his breath.

The last black man in San Francisco is Jimmie Fails, Jonathan Majors, Danny Glover, Tichina Arnold, Rob Morgan, Mike Epps, Thora Birch, Jamal Trulove, Isiain Lalime, Antoine Redus, Jeivon Parker and Jordan Gomes.