Review of Super Fly (1972) by Donovan D — 05 Mar 2008

Was there ever a cooler guy than Curtis Mayfield? As a singer, Curtis ranks right up there as one of the great soul falsettos, as a songwriter he was one of the first soul artists to really dig deep into the political possibilities of song and as a guitarist his smooth and lyrical hammer-on/off style would go on to influence no less a guitarist than Jimi Hendrix.

Why begin this review talking about a soul giant? Because while he only appears physically in the film for a brief cameo, the true star of Superfly is Curtis Mayfield. Given the job of providing a score for what would become one of the pivotal films of the 70s Blaxploitation cinema, Mayfield surpasses Marvin Gaye's Trouble Man and Isaac Hayes's Shaft by creating a set of music that actually gave different meaning to several scenes from the movie.

As a film, Superfly is somewhat contemptible: its hero Priest is the prototype for so many Get Rich or Die Trying gangstas I couldn't help but dislike the implications of his character, and the film is capitalistic to the core.

Ever the political artist, Mayfield's songs act as counterpoint to the occasional glorification of Priest as a black hero. While not in the film in its original form, Mayfield's hit Freddie's Dead is probably the most scathing and hard-hitting song of the whole bunch and turns a minor character into a cautionary tale.

The problem of course is that Mayfield's soundtrack can easily be divorced from the film and act as a concept album in its own right, especially since the album greatly exceeds the quality of the film.

Superfly is a film worth seeing if you're a fan of the album or Curtis Mayfield's music in general, but in many ways the stand-alone quality of the soundtrack makes repeated viewings superfluous.