DAVE CHAPPELLE'S BLOCK PARTY
*** out of *****
Reviewed by Cameron Murray 

Screening in the 2006 New Zealand International Film Festival
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Genres
Comedy
Documentary
Musical

2005
Directed by
Michel Gondry
Written by
Dave Chappelle
Featuring
Dave Chappelle
Erykah Badu
Bilal
Lil' Cease
Cody Chestnutt
Common
Mos Def
Freeway
Fred Hampton Jr.
Lauryn Hill
Darren Hymes
Wyclef Jean
Big Daddy Kane
Talib Kweli
John Legend
Tiffany Limos
Pras
Dead Prez
Kool G. Rap
The Roots (Leonard 'Hub' Hubbard, Ahmir-Khalib Thompson, Tariq Trotter, James 'Kamal' Gray)
Jill Scott
Kanye West

Dave Chappelle's Block Party is a thoroughly enjoyable documentary/ comedy/ music concert. Hosted by Dave Chappelle and featuring guests such as Mos Def, Common, Jill Scott and The Fugees (who performed together for the first time in seven years for this film) this movie is a great reminder that music can be a very powerful vehicle for a message or a cause.

The documentary starts at the beginning of the block party, it then reverts back to three days previous with Chappelle in his home town in the state of Ohio where he is getting members of the predominantly white population to come up to Brooklyn to go to his 'rap concert' block party. It follows the progress of Chappelle as he decides that he wants a marching band to be at his shindig. It then takes a tour of the area where the concert is to be held and meets some of the more interesting members of the neighborhood including a couple who are most succinctly summed up by the term 'crazy' but very friendly and welcoming as they show Dave through one of the strangest buildings that I have ever seen on film, whether it be fiction or not. The film moves onto the concert with Dave speaking to some of the artists that he has recruited for his concert, clips from the concert and rehearsal sessions are interspersed through the entire film, climaxing with the reunited performance by The Fugees, which is absolutely mind blowing.

Dave Chappelle is the host of this block party (I know the title kind of gives that away) he is also the host of the documentary. As a comedian Chappelle keeps the humor coming but without trying or forcing it, the viewer can only assume he is being himself and as such you feel endeared to him. Throughout the film there are many compliments paid to Chappelle by the members of the public from his home town, who have been invited to the block party. It was refreshing to watch a documentary that apparently didn't have a secret agenda or underhanded editing techniques to twist people's words. The other members of the 'cast' are the artists and the random members of the public who Dave convinces to come from his home town, there are some real characters amongst them and some people who you would not really expect to see at a rap concert, but through Chappelle's charm are convinced to make the journey.

This film is a mixture between the standard documentary style and a live hip hop concert film style, meaning that there are very few static shots, with the majority of the interview segments being shot off the shoulder. The concert is filmed on the fly and thus the quality of these segments are a tribute to the camera crew being on their toes and getting as much as they possibly could and doing a damn good job of it in the process. The film does not take a revolutionary approach to its relevant genres but the style it uses is conducive to telling the story.

I liked this film, but it is not a stunning documentary simply because it doesn't really tell a great story. It just follows Chappelle through the process of pulling off his block party, and while there are some really interesting points that pique your interest they don't delve any deeper into them, so in that regard it is a little disappointing. Having said that the performances are stunning and the artists let the viewers know that despite what you see in the mass media there are artists out there who are real people with real concerns for the world in which they live in. This is a refreshing approach given the over abundance of pre packaged bullshit that seems to make it to the top of the charts week after week. If you like hip hop, rap or just music with a message I highly recommend this film, if you want a hard hitting documentary on rap music this is not for you, if you want to see a very funny man putting on a great concert for people, most of whom he has never met before and has asked nothing from them except there attendance then this is the movie for you.

This film will screen in Wellington on July 26th at 4:00pm at the Embassy Theatre. Refer to the Film Fest homepage for more information.

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