Tongues Untied (1989): Unveils the struggles of Black homosexual men

Marlon Riggs, left, and Essex Hemphill in “Tongues Untied.” Photo credit: Frameline

Tongues Untied (1989) by Marlon T. Riggs is about Black homosexual men talking about what they have to go through especially around the community of white people and Black heterosexual men. 

I would like to highlight the camerawork in the film. I feel they really accomplished on how a Black gay man would feel towards people who are against them on what they are and what they do. The zoom-ins makes me particularly nervous or claustrophobic, an attempt to make the audience feel what they feel. I would also like to point a scene where Riggs was talking about his experiences. 

From here the story went a little darker as he explains his story to the audience, which makes Riggs appear darker as well and then slowly the whole screen slowly turns black as his story ends.

From here, and even throughout the film, we could see that Riggs and his friends explaining about their struggles and you see back to back short scenes of what I assume, people of privilege or hegemonic people are saying derogatory comments while they’re talking to the audience.

From here, I kept thinking about the “One-Way Address” from a reading called An Outline of Film Voices by Bruce Kawin. It basically means the film would address the audience directly, as if they’re aware of our presence, but we as the audience cannot talk back. It is clear that Riggs and his friends are not just trying to tell their stories to any person, but to people of privilege who are watching the documentary, to make them see what they go through. (Kawin, pg 42)

The spoken word is very emotional. Every time one of the Black men talks and as it keeps shifting to random people saying some profanities, it feels like getting shot at. Every time it keeps shifting faster to different people saying something meaner, it just feels like it’s never going to end, and that is the reality for some people like them.

In conclusion, I feel this film is a great example of an experimental queer documentary that I feel, perfectly explains the struggle of being a Black queer man who has to face with not just white people, but also people from their own community with their own mindset of toxic masculinity.

This review is also posted in my Letterboxd! Click here to see the review.