Bushman Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Bushman Blu-ray Movie Review

Lost in time.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III May 28, 2024

After a successful festival run more than 50 years ago where it won over critics but failed to earn a distribution deal, David Schickele’s 1971 independent gem Bushman has been given new life on Blu-ray with this partnership between Milestone Films and Kino Lorber. Schickele’s little-seen docudrama stars the charismatic Paul Eyam Nzie Okpokam as Gabriel, a Nigerian man working in San Francisco during a very turbulent time in racial history. It opens by establishing context with the then-recent deaths of Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy, and activist Bobby Hutton before moving into its fictional but realistic story, ultimately ending on a note that flirts with full-on historical accuracy. Owing a great deal to John Cassavetes' Shadows while feeling like a natural extension of the director's own earlier work, Bushman stands as a largely potent experiment that just so happens to double as an outstanding time capsule.

Plot-wise, Bushman feels episodic as it drifts from scene to scene; the bulk of it follows Gabriel (Okpokam, playing perhaps a fictionalized version of himself), a professor of African literature at the University of San Francisco who encounters a wide range of reactions from friends and casual acquaintances. A handful of these acquaintances are female, often white, and Gabriel's skin color is often fetishized. (In some cases the obvious attraction is reciprocated, which stands in stark contrast with a few much less friendly encounters.) Gabriel's thoughts are laid bare via straight-on interviews, but it's not until the film's final stretch -- which is technically unfinished, as Okpokam was unfortunately arrested during filming on questionable charges about being in possession of an explosive device -- that Bushman's almost accidental genius comes to light: it's now more "docu" than "drama", with Schickele himself (as "Mark") detailing our leading man's eventual fate and providing sporadic narration along the way.

Performances are mostly solid all around, especially Okpokam in the lead role as well as the various women who he interacts will throughout the film; in almost every instance, the on-screen chemistry feels natural and contributes to an overall sense of realism. David Lynch fans will also be eager to see an early performance from Jack Nance (Eraserhead, Blue Velvet), who portrays a young gay man infatuated with Gabriel as seen in screenshot #4. I found his character's on-screen antics to be far less tolerable than Nance's more nuanced performances in later films (in fact, I might even consider him to be the weakest link in Bushman's supporting cast), but he's nothing if not memorable here.

Overall, though, Bushman is more than just an appealing time capsule of a crucial place and time in American history, made all the more irresistible by its total absence on home video and even most theatrical settings for more than five full decades. That might give a slight four-star courtesy bump to a film whose pre-coda narrative comes in third to its cinematography and interesting subject matter, but nonetheless makes Bushman recommended material for fans of this era of bold independent filmmaking. Milestone's welcome Blu-ray edition is sourced from a brand-new restoration of the original camera negative (detailed below); when paired with lossless restored audio and a thoughtful assortment of bonus features, this makes a very well-rounded package for those seeking something a little different.

Bushman Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

According to pre-film introductory text, Bushman has been restored and digitally remastered by the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum, the Pacific Film Archive, and The Film Foundation from the original 35mm black-and-white camera negative, a process from which this recent 1080p master was created as well as new 35mm prints for theatrical exhibition. It's a fine-looking effort that, if only going by these direct screenshots, might even earn a full 5/5 rating for its outstanding fine detail, strong textures, deep black levels, and abundance of natural film grain. What you don't see here -- at least with any regularity -- is a light but pervasive amount of dirt and debris that dots almost every scene; it's certainly not overly distracting and in some ways even adds to the film's palpable time-capsule appeal, but nonetheless prevents this 1080p transfer from scoring even higher. (One or two scenes, such as a short conversation around a campfire at night, is swarming with noise and more intense age-related damage, and moments like these are kept as-is because total repair would presumably have been impossible.) Disc encoding is very well done, as the entire film runs at a supportive bit rate with no encoding issues. So despite its less than perfect score on paper, Milestone's Blu-ray is still very much a fine-looking effort and will probably never be improved upon.

Bushman Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Likewise, this DTS-HD 2.0 has been sourced from the original soundtrack's optical negative, and the end result is a relatively clean and crisp presentation that doesn't call much attention to itself but gets the job done. Bushman's slice-of-life atmosphere has been solidly preserved with clear dialogue that may nonetheless require the use of this Blu-ray's appreciated optional English (SDH) subtitles to help with some of the heavier dialects. All things considered, though, this is a nicely-resented track with a decent dynamic range that sounds a bit better than anticipated.

Bushman Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with attractive cover artwork; tucked inside is a promotional insert and an eight-page booklet featuring a few photos, an essay about late director David Schickele, and brief notes about his two bonus documentaries included as bonus features and listed below.

• Audio Commentary - This recent track features historian Daniel Kremer and filmmaker Rob Nilsson, whose longtime friendship makes this a relaxed and entertaining one. Among other topics, they profess their mutual love and respect for Schicklele's work, the film's imagery, visual influences, the Blu-ray restoration, themes and symbolism, mixing drama and realism, social politics of the era, their own work and its ties to the director's films, and much more. It's an accessible track and certainly worth listening to for fans of the film.

• Give Me a Riddle (67:37) - Made several years before Bushman, this 1966 cinéma vérité-style documentary was shot entirely in Nigeria as a training film for the Peace Corps and follows ex-PC volunteer Roger Landram as he speaks with his old student friends and, like the main feature, is a great time capsule of a particular time in history as well as a fairly clear lead-in to Schickele's work on Bushman. It's in rough but watchable condition with English DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio and no optional subtitles. Well worth watching, of course.

• Tuscarora (58:56) - Another well-made documentary by Schickele, this interesting 1992 piece concerns the citizens of tiny Tuscarora, NV, who are facing an immediate crisis in that their small mountain town has been threatened by destruction for the valuable gold mines hidden underneath their land. The unofficial leader of the 12-person town is Dennis Parks, an artist who founded an international pottery school that's still in existence. This one's in rougher condition due to its videotaped source material and Dolby Digital 2.0 audio.

• Re-release Trailer (1:31) - This recent promotional piece can also be seen here.

Bushman Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

David Schickele's 1971 docudrama Bushman has an irresistible history as a once-heralded but forgotten film that never picked up a distributor and, unsurprisingly, was almost lost to time. Thankfully, a recent restoration by several partners led to this second life on home video courtesy of Kino Lorber and Milestone Films, the latter of which has ported its new facelift to a fine-looking Blu-ray. Now ready to be discovered by several new generations of independent film films, the Blu-ray also comes equipped with a handful of high-quality bonus features. Firmly Recommended.