The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
Probably the movie most referenced in reviews as a comparison to Judas and the Black Messiah, Andrew Dominik’s The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford similarly tracks a true story of a famous figure brought down by a Judas-like member of his own gang. In this case, it’s all spelled out literally in the title. Interestingly enough, Shaka King hadn’t had the context of this movie while making his own. As he tells Mike Ryan at Uproxx:
“It’s an analogy that a lot of people have made, and the thing that’s funny is that I actually didn’t see that movie until after I made this film. But when I watched the movie, I was like, oh yeah, I can totally see how people would make that connection. There’s definitely something happening there. Even though I also think there are many differences.”
Screenwriters Keith and Kenny Lucas had seen the movie before but don’t seem to have made the conscious effort to be directly influenced by its story. This quote by Kenny Lucas from the twin brothers’ interview with each other for Interview magazine recognizes that sometimes a movie’s influences are just in the coding of all the viewing experiences of all of its creators blending into a new piece of art:
“I look at the film coming out and I see people interpreting the film, and they talk about certain reference points. They talk about The Assassination of Jesse James, I’ve seen references to Sidney Lumet. Then I think about all the times we just sat down and watched those movies years ago together. It’s so weird to be able to interpret a piece of our art while talking about things that we did just as brothers before we were even in the business. It becomes surreal and full-circle.”
The Departed (2006)
While The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is definitely the most noted movie in reviews of Judas and the Black Messiah, perhaps the movie most referenced in interviews with the makers of Judas and the Black Messiah is this Martin Scorsese crime film that finally earned the director his first Oscar (as well as his first Best Picture). Also starring Leonardo DiCaprio, the remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs, The Departed follows two characters from different sides of the law who infiltrate the other’s organization. Martin Sheen also shows up here as the big boss of the authorities.
Judas and the Black Messiah was initially pitched by the Lucas brothers as The Departed but set in the world of COINTELPRO, and that was one of the things that attracted Shaka King to the project. Not just as an influence but also as a comparative indicator for the appeal and accessibility of his movie. And yet, as King told The Atlantic, they still had trouble financing and selling the one focused on Black characters. “When I found out how much money [The Trial of the Chicago 7] was made for, it really is telling to me,” King said. “You could cut a trailer to our movie. If you don’t give a fuck about the Black Panthers, or any history, you could still be like, “I kind of want to see that, though. Because I like The Departed.” This is an incredibly commercial movie.”
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
When asked about the comparison to The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford in the Uproxx interview, Shaka King cites this Patricia Highsmith adaptation as being more similar to Judas and the Black Messiah. “I do think that movie, which is what’s interesting, it’s about a guy who gets close to greatness and he loves this guy. He actually loves this guy. And to me, that movie is almost more like The Talented Mr. Ripley in terms of the characters.” Starring Matt Damon (who is also co-lead of The Departed), the movie is about a young man sent to befriend another and infiltrate his social circle in order to bring him back home. In this story, the main character also winds up responsible for the death of his mark.
Deep Cover (1992)
In Bill Duke’s stylish, very early ’90s crime thriller, Laurence Fishburne plays an LAPD cop recruited to go undercover by a slimy DEA agent (Charles Martin Smith) and take down a drug cartel. But to do his job properly, the officer has to become the very thing he’s meant to bust. As a piece of fantastical noirish fiction, the plot is more empowering than the tragic real circumstances of Judas and the Black Messiah, of course. Ultimately, Deep Cover gets to be about a Black man rising out of his own complicated identity in the operation and succeeding in exposing both sides of the law as the bad guys, blended through their shared corruption and racism. You wish the same could have happened for William O’Neal against his FBI handler, Roy Mithcell (Jesse Plemons) and Hoover and the rest of the Bureau.
Rather than the unlikely Black guy and white guy team-up of Fishburne and Jeff Goldblum (or Fishburne and Smith) in Deep Cover, another early ’90s movie is cited by the Lucas brothers as another worth comparing Judas and the Black Messiah to. “The confounding thing about William is he says one thing but he does another,” Kenny Lucas told Robert Daniels in the Vulture interview. “You’re very hard-pressed to get a take on him and his relationship with [his FBI handler] Roy Mitchell. He painted them as Another 48 Hrs. They were buddy cops taking down this criminal organization. He was obviously flawed and clearly misguided. But I do believe he was manipulated by Roy and the FBI because they’re masters at that stuff.”
Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
With a title like Judas and the Black Messiah, I have to include a movie about the literal Judas betraying Jesus, right? But which is the best choice? Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ? That’s a good recommendation, but I’ve gone with the Judas-focused musical Jesus Christ Superstar because it was made just a few years after Fred Hampton’s death (adapting the stage show that debuted just one year after) and definitely had political assassinations of the 1960s in mind with its depiction of the downfall of Jesus as a highly influential leader. It should be noted that Hampton isn’t exactly a Christ-like figure in the new movie, and he never wanted to be seen as such. Hoover labeled him “a new Black Messiah.” That’s why the Lucas brothers changed their movie’s title from Jesus is My Homeboy to Judas and the Black Messiah.
The Murder of Fred Hampton (1971)
For the best documentary option as an alternative or supplement to Judas and the Black Messiah, this unique piece of history from the famed Chicago documentary production company The Film Group was intended as a profile and sadly wound up being a record and investigation of tragic Black history as it happened. Director Howard Alk began filming Hampton and his speeches and meant to showcase the leader and the rise of the Chicago chapter of the Black Panthers (perhaps it would have been more akin to Agnes Varda’s 1968 doc Black Panthers). But during production, Hampton was killed. The documentary then turned into an investigatory work, with Alk and producer Mike Gray even sneaking into the crime scene of Hampton’s apartment. Whether it’s a better film, as a result, is debatable, but there’s no denying it’s a more remarkable nonfiction work.
Watch The Murder of Fred Hampton free on Vimeo via the Chicago Film Archives.
The Conformist (1970)
This Bernardo Bertolucci film is another cited by the Lucas brothers as having been part of their pitch. “The Departed meets The Conformist,” they say of the genre of Judas and the Black Messiah in Robert Daniels’ Vulture interview. And to Khal at Complex, Keith Lucas says their initial pitch was, “We want to make it like the 1970s crime, espionage, thriller, and the grain of The Conformist or The French Connection. We want it to feel like, gritty and ‘70s, but we also want it to tell the story of Fred Hampton. We want to synthesize the two worlds.”
The Conformist is set during Italy’s Fascist era and follows the story of a government official who is tasked with assassinating his old mentor from his college days, a professor in exile in France for being an outspoken anti-Fascist. Obviously, the situation is different from O’Neal’s in that he was ordered to befriend and infiltrate to gain the trust of Hampton and the rest of the Black Panthers while the main character of Bertolucci’s film is already an acquaintance of the man he’s targeting and so already trusted. But there’s also concern that he won’t be able to achieve his assignment due to his being close to his old teacher — and, during his mission, becoming even closer to his wife.
Related Topics: Judas and the Black Messiah, Movie DNA
