Ain't We Lucky We Got 'Em

MY BROTHER'S WEDDING
(Charles Burnett, US, 1983, 81 mins.)

He has a very romantic view of the have-nots.
-- Mrs. Mundy on her son

*****

Only a few minutes into My Brother's Wedding, and my childhood began to
flash before my eyes. Though made in the 1980s, it conjured up visions of
the African-American sitcoms I used to watch in the 1970s: Sanford and Son,
Good Times, and What's Happening. This isn't a backhanded compliment, and
Charles Burnett's second feature doesn't play like a network comedy. It's just
that the story revolves around a working class family, and it's frequently very funny. After the gritty-yet-lyrical Killer of Sheep, I wasn't expecting something so light.

Inspired by Britain's Steptoe and Son, Sanford and Son centered on Watts junk
dealer Fred (Redd Foxx) and his 31-year-old son, Lamont (Demond Wilson). Similarly, My Brother's Wedding pivots on 30-year-old Pierce (Everett Silas),
who works in his family's Watts drycleaners. Just as Lamont lived at home,
so too does Pierce—who's built just like Good Times' gangly Jimmy Walker.

"You big dummy!"

Though basically a decent guy, his mother (the hilarious Jessie Holmes)
razzes him constantly. His newspaper-reading, bespectacled buppy brother,
Wendell (Dennis Kemper), is engaged to marry fellow attorney, Sonia (the glamorous Gaye Shannon-Burnett), who comes from an affluent family, while
Pierce has been seeing a married woman on the sly. His best friend, Soldier
(Ronnie Bell), is an ex-con. Only Pierce treats him with any respect.

This isn't the South Central of Boyz N the Hood or Training Day. For all
his faults, Pierce is neither a pusher nor a drug user. If anything, he's
the glue that holds his neighborhood together. It's just that no one ever
notices. Soldier hasn't been much of a son to his mother, but Pierce visits
her regularly. It's clear she sees this attentive young man as a surrogate.

Then there's the elderly couple down the street (it wasn't clear whether they
were grandparents or family friends). Everyday, Pierce makes sure they take
their medication and helps out with more delicate matters, such as bathing.
Like his parents, they take his assistance for granted. Yet without it, these
frail, possibly senile seniors surely would've kicked the bucket ages ago.

That's all well and good, but Pierce is no saint. Aside from the fact that he's
been stepping out with another man's woman and associates with known felons,
he's an aimless wanderer with a big mouth. Pierce can't stand his brother's uptight fiancée and often lets her know. And when no one else is around, she insults
him back. (The other Mundys never get to see her mean side.) When the two families meet for a pre-wedding dinner, Pierce is filled with insults for the lot of them—with the exception of their Latino maid, one of his beloved "have-nots."

Not long after that fateful dinner, tragedy strikes and the humor evaporates,
but My Brother's Wedding doesn't feel like two movies in one. Death, when it
arrives, doesn't seem particularly surprising. A man like Pierce can look after his friends and family members to the best of his ability, but he's no miracle worker.

And that's the irony of his situation, really. On one side, he's surrounded
by "heathens," like Soldier; on the other by pious churchgoers, like his mother.
It's fortunate, then, that he can always wrestle with his father when he needs
to blow off some steam. Or enjoy a little hooch with Soldier's mom.

Unlike Killer of Sheep, My Brother's Wedding was shot in color, but Burnett
uses music just as artfully. While other African-American films and TV shows
of the time moved to the beat of funk and disco—see Quincy Jones's great
Sanford and Son theme—there's a little doowop here, a little gospel there,
and some heartfelt acapella singing at the beginning and the end.

Throughout, his largely non-professional cast rises to the occasion again
and again. While I wouldn't call the acting great, Burnett knows exactly how
to work around their limitations. Most scenes are short, and exposition is kept
to a minimum. So, some line readings are flatter than a pancake, but the whole
is greater than the sum of the parts. These are charismatic people—especially
the rotund gent with the torn trousers—and everyone gets the chance to shine.

If anything, My Brother's Wedding is even funnier than a boxed set of
Sanford and Son, Good Times, or What's Happening. I don't mean to disparage programs that brought me such joy as a kid, but like most sitcoms, they
could be pretty predictable (and that's to say nothing of the penthouse
dwellers of The Jeffersons). Burnett's targets may be similar—shiftless sons, judgmental parents—but the combination of real people, authentic locations,
and higher-stakes situations only makes the humor seem that much richer.

*****

Keepin' your head above water,
Making a wave when you can.
-- "Good Times" (1974)

Previously denied a proper theatrical release, My Brother's Wedding opens
at SIFF Cinema (321 Mercer St.) on Fri., 9/21. According to SIFF, "This 2007
director's cut will screen in HDCam and will be accompanied by a brand-new
short Burnett film, the Hurricane Katrina-themed Quiet as Keep." For more information, please click here or call 206-633-7151. Distributor Milestone adds
that My Brother's Wedding is "coming in 11/13/07 as part of Killer of Sheep: The Charles Burnett Collection." Images from Milestone, Newsday, and The Village Voice.