The Panthers, The Pigs, and The Past (Night Catches Us, 2010)

This. Movie. Is. Bomb. Great soundtrack: check. Beautifully colored cinematography: check. Kerry Washington’s amazing Philly accent: not so much, but we’ll let that one go. Night Catches Us is a well-crafted historical fiction centered on The Black Panthers. The screenplay intertwines an ebony-rich story with whimsical animation, real historical footage, and a stellar cast. I would expect a Panther movie to either defame or glorify the organization. This film does neither. Instead, it makes us recognize that this political party was made of people—people with flaws, successes, dreams, and failures. 

Night Catches Us has the qualities of Panther stories that we have heard as legends. There were moments in the film when I immediately thought about Fred Hampton, Angela Davis, Huey Newton, and so many others. I wondered what laid in their wake as they fought for change. What lays in ours? 

This film is about the past, not just in a typical historical fiction type of way, but in a way that forces us to think of the past’s power. It's filled with compelling and unexpected characters. Writer and director Tanya Hamilton did an excellent job of making me feel connected to each and everyone of them. I wanted them to win because I felt like I was a part of their community. This in conjunction with the intertwining of documentary-type footage reminds us that the past is, in fact, real. It humanizes a group of people that so many have been conditioned to fear. It subtly reminds us that the Black Panthers were not just figures, but people. J. Edgar Hoover bugged the phones of friends and ended the lives of family members. Night Catches Us physically shows us the past without dwelling in it, even though the characters do. It presents 1976 as the present, therefore emphasizing the idea that lives continue even after movements end. 

In an almost August-Wilson-like way, the characters in this film seem to represent more than themselves. Tanya Hamilton makes a point of telling stories that show the diversity of blackness (my kind of girl!). This is evident through rainbow of characters found within this Philadelphia community. 

This community wallows in the past. Marcus explains it best when he says, “You’re all fighting imaginary enemies.” The things that people are battling are no longer physically existent. Still they must grapple with the consequences and rewards of yesteryear on a daily basis. Night Catches Us reminds us that Black Power wasn’t just a phase; it was a movement made up of real people and real ideas that can’t be confined to a period of time. The film reminds us that the people’s lives and visions must continue. 

Let’s take a specific character for example, shall we? I pick Jimmy. He’s probably the best example of a symbolic character in this film. Jimmy spends most of his time picking up old metal—cans, broken car parts, you name it—in order to sell them. That’s his job. His livelihood is based on gathering old things; his life is dependent on the past. Go with me on this. There’s a moment in the film when Jimmy tries to sell his metal pieces to the White man, whom he usually does business with. The White man couldn’t give him what he wanted in exchange for his scraps. So, “from now on [he] only [does] business with the brothas.” Jimmy then tries to sell those scraps to a Black man. Still, Jimmy was left not getting in return what he thought his old metal was worth. This film is arguing that old ideas, whatever they may be, don’t work when you negotiate neither with the oppressor nor with the fellow oppressed. Like the price of metal changes, so does time. Holding on to the past isn’t necessarily the way to get to a bright future. That is a blaring theme in Night Catches Us.

Over the course of the film, we see Jimmy slowly taking on more stereotypically Panther-like qualities. With his first (wrongful) arrest, we see him asserting himself verbally. Later, he follows Black Panther protocol by boldly reminding a brother being arrested of his rights, despite being unwelcome by police. The montage where Jimmy is preparing and practicing to be a “Panther" says it best: It’s as if he is a wondering toddler waling around in his daddy’s shoes. He seems to look and sound the part, but something just isn’t right. You can see it in his eyes. He has everything seen on the outer surface but seems to lack ideas at the core of Pantherhood—inner pride, political intelligence, and hope for the future. Marcus and Patricia, however, do have these things. Jimmy is naive and uncertain, much like the present. 

The look is nothing without the heart. Maybe it’s that time has run out on the way Jimmy’s father’s generation did things, but not necessarily on what they were trying to do. Jimmy ultimately fails. But Marcus, Patricia, and Iris have hope of succeeding. I think that Hamilton is arguing that their most Panther-like qualities are timeless. The best ideas outlive time. However methods can die. Jimmy dies. I’d like to attribute his death to martyrdom, but I think that would be doing a disservice to the larger ideas presented in this film. His death functions as a warning to viewers not to hold on to the past. 

The life and fate of Jimmy’s character also caused me to ask questions that can move our community forward: How do we look back at the past without being stuck in it? Do we let the dream die because the past did not turn out the way we thought it would? Do we stop fighting when we realize that we’re not invincible? 

Although this movie asks us to examine the way we look at the past, I don’t think that it is telling us to forget it. There were six instances of negative and even violent encounters with “the pigs” (as the Panthers called the law enforcement). Police brutality affected the film’s past, present, and future. Need I remind you that that is still an issue today? Not much has changed. The injustice of the law (or lack thereof) still affects our communities in very personal ways. The past speaks to our future, but does not have to define it. This film argues this point artfully. Night Catches Us never really forces a solution on us yet by the end of the movie we know that one exists. It tells the stories of our ancestors with heart and intelligence, while reminding us of the possibility of brighter days **cue “Ooh Child”**. All power to the people, then and now.