THE WATERMELON WOMAN
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1996 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 7.0 Alternative Scale: *** out of ****
United States, 1996 Running Length: 1:22 MPAA Classification: No MPAA Rating (Profanity, sex, nudity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Shown at the Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema, 5/8/96, 5/10/96, 5/12/96
Cast: Cheryl Dunye, Guinevere Turner, Valerie Walker, Lisa Marie Bronson, Toshi Reagon, Camille Paglia Director: Cheryl Dunye Producers: Barry Swimar, Alexandra Juhasz Screenplay: Cheryl Dunye Cinematography: Michelle Crenshaw
Most gay and lesbian-themed movies focus on the search for a perfect mate. Cheryl Dunye's THE WATERMELON WOMAN, which won the Teddy Bear award for best gay feature film at the Berlin Film Festival, is a rare, and welcome, exception. Sure, love and sex are elements of THE WATERMELON WOMAN, but this film is about much more. Dunye spends a lot more time out of the bedroom than inside it in this funny, insightful look at a young lesbian film maker tracking the real life story of the subject of her documentary.
Dunye plays Cheryl, a Philadelphia video store clerk who's making a movie on the side. It's about "the Watermelon Woman", an obscure black actress who had bit parts in a number of pre-1950 motion pictures with titles like PLANTATION MEMORIES. As Cheryl digs for facts about the woman, she discovers a surprising number of similarities between herself and her subject. The Watermelon Woman, actually named Faye Richards, was a lesbian who lived in Philadelphia, didn't conceal her lifestyle, and loved movies. Cheryl becomes obsessed about learning everything she can about Faye, and her hunt leads her to friends and intimates of the late actress.
THE WATERMELON WOMAN is also about Cheryl's personal life, which ultimately becomes entwined with her film making. Her best friend, who also works with her at the video store, is an acid-tongued lesbian named Tamara (Valerie Walker). Tamara objects to Cheryl's burgeoning relationship with a white woman, Diana (Guinevere Turner), and keeps trying to set her best friend up with other, usually off-the-wall, black lesbians. It doesn't work, though -- Cheryl's attraction to Diana is too strong.
Dunye frequently interrupts her narrative for person-on-the-street interviews, several of which are very funny. Some of the responses to the question she asks, "Do you know who the Watermelon Woman is?" are sidesplitting. Well-known social critic Camille Paglia has a cameo in which she delivers a memorably bizarre monologue about her perception of the symbolic meaning of a watermelon.
The Watermelon Woman is a fictitious creation, but, watching this film, it's easy to believe that there really was a Faye Richards. Dunye does such an excellent job re-creating old, black-and-white film clips and glossy photographs that, combined with the pseudo-documentary style of much of the film, might tempt a viewer to search a movie database for a list of the Watermelon Woman's credits.
Dunye's film looks like it was produced with almost no money (which it was), but that's part of its essential charm. This is the kind of story that, if told in a less experimental manner, wouldn't have worked nearly as well. THE WATERMELON WOMAN is imbued with freshness, and that's it's best quality. Dunye has crafted a motion picture that can be appreciated by all audiences -- male, female, black, white, gay, and straight. It's a celebration of life and diversity in the City of Sisterly Love.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net web: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
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