Black Joy Movie Review

Black Joy focuses on life in Brixton, a Jamaican neighborhood in London. Funny, well acted, and poetically written, the film lives up to its title and offers an appealing glimpse at the life of Trevor Thomas as Benjamin Jones, a new arrival from Guyana. He promptly becomes involved with the girlfriend of a gangster; repercussions follow! This was the first dramatic feature made by black artists to be released in Great Britain, where it originally ran 109 minutes. Based on Jamal Ali's play Dark Days and Light Nights. Simmons later directed 1990's Little Sweetheart.

1977 97m/C GB Norman Beaten, Trevor Thomas, Dawn Hope, Floella Benjamin, Oscar James, Paul Medford, Shango Baku, Azad Ali, Charles Pemberton, Vivian Stanshall, Kevin O'Shea; D: Anthony Simmons; W: Anthony Simmons, Jamal Ali; C: Phil Meheux; M: Lou Reizner.