Baadasssss!

Colourful recreation of Melvin Van Peebles’ struggles making the radical black breakthrough film ‘Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song’ in 1971, dramatised by his son Mario, who like dad puts himself centre-frame as the cigar-chomping go-it-alone tyrant (a young Mario in turn appears in the film, taking notes for posterity). Part history lesson, part payback, part tribute, it hasn’t the original film’s psychotic verve, but it’s a useful accessory.