Tongues Untied

Movie

1990

55m

English

Documentary

User Score:

6.9

Critic Score:

Watch on The Criterion Channel

Tongues Untied

Movie

1990

55m

English

Documentary

Watch on The Criterion Channel

Marlon Riggs, with assistance from other gay Black men, especially poet Essex Hemphill, celebrates Black men loving Black men as a revolutionary act. The film intercuts footage of Hemphill reciting his poetry, Riggs telling the story of his growing up, scenes of men in social intercourse and dance, and various comic riffs, including a visit to the "Institute of Snap!thology," where men take lessons in how to snap their fingers: the sling snap, the point snap, the diva snap.

WATCHMODE

6.9

IMDB

CRITIC SCORE

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Cast

Full Cast & Crew

Marlon Riggs

Self

Essex Hemphill

Self - Poetry Performance

Self

Self

Self

Self

Self (archive footage)

Directed By: Marlon Riggs

Written By: Donald Woods, Marlon Riggs, + 6 more

Featured Comments/Tips

JC230 says...

one year ago

This is not only a documentary, but poetry in motion. It’s raw, aching, vibrant emotion. It’s soul poured onto film. It doesn’t talk down or hold back, and in its short runtime it still encapsulates the gay black experience so searingly. Contextualizing the homophobia slung from all directions with the faces of the people who have to bear it, internalize it. But also looking at the light, the humor and wit, the creativity and community. Love is juxtaposed and interlinked with fear. It’s a moving and affecting art piece as much as it is an informative and essential snapshot of a time that still reverberates today. It’s simply phenomenal.

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