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Mattelli's death from a Black Audience perspective (spoilers)

posted 10 years ago by hankaaron
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I saw Across 110th Street as a preteen back in 1973. It was an all black theater and was the opening film shown before "Wattstax"- which is the movie me and my family were really there to see.

We walked in probably three-quarters of the way into "Across 110th Street". So obviously I really didn't have much attachment to what was happening on screen.

I vividly remember that D'Salvio's death was greeted with applause and cheers. Again since we had come in so late in the picture, I didn't understand why. In contrast when Mattelli was shot at end, the theater was very, very quite.

Usually in that same theater there's at least some chatter always going on. But the end was very silent. It seemed like the audience felt the same kind of ambivalence toward Mattelli that was the same sort of ambivalence of Mattelli's character. You just don't know how to feel about him.

[–] mherch2833 10 years ago

Interesting post.

The ending of this movie puzzles me as well. I'm not sure if its me - not knowing how I feel about Mattelli's character or his relationship with Pope - or if the scene wasn't well executed or built up as it could have been. I feel like an ending such as this should be a lot more powerful than it is, the white man's hand clinging with the last of its life to the black man's hand. And if the filmmakers were going for a powerful ending, they could have played with the racial discussion between Mattelli and Pope more in the film. Last twenty seconds aside, this is one of my favorite films. Great acting, directing, and writing.