Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

Tongues Untied Blu-ray Movie Review

A must-see documentary by Marlon Riggs (Black Is... Black Ain't, Color Adjustment).

Tongues Untied is an essential documentary produced by Brian Freeman. The documentary combines original footage with archival footage showcasing black men in America – specifically, black homosexual men and their unique roles in society. With the assistance of government funding, director Marlon Riggs made an important film that remains relevant to modern audiences.

One of the themes of the documentary is the silence of black homosexual men. Marlon Riggs sees silence in the black gay community as an ongoing problem. An example of cultural and sexual prejudices which cause homosexual individuals to feel expression cannot be achieved: with a community of LGBTQ individuals repressed in America (through culture).

Exploring discrimination of black homosexual men, Marlon Riggs discusses the way in which even black communities in society have shamed men who are homosexual. Examples include pastors who feel that a homosexual black man is at conflict with a straight black man. Riggs feels the black community shames black gay men for being less masculine compared to straight black men – creating a sense of weakness that is unfounded.

An examination of the silence of gay black men.

Even comedians like Eddie Murphy: making stand-up comedy jokes about trying to prevent gay black men from checking him out while on stage (and making comments about black men “conquering” women in the bedroom). In Riggs eyes, a stand-up routine like this creates a reflection of hyper-masculinity being reinforced by culture. The discussion continues – there is much to reflect on.

Riggs also explores the loss of some of his close friends to AIDS. The AIDS epidemic is another undercurrent. There are a lot of themes at play in Tongues Untied – and these themes are quite important to discuss. Riggs wants audiences to consider all of these relevant issues.

Tongues Untied highlights impressive cinematography by Vivian Kleiman (No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics, Forgotten Fires) as well as Marlon Riggs. The film also features noteworthy music by Alex Langford, Steve Langley, and Marlon Riggs. Riggs involved himself in all areas of the film: including front-and-center (and behind the scenes as an editor – and, of course, as director). Riggs is a terrific documentarian and Tongues Untied is another example of his importance as a filmmaker. Riggs had so many questions about society and societal roles – and audiences need to listen.

Tongues Untied Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from the Criterion Collection, Tongues Untied is presented in the original aspect ratio of 1.33:1 full frame. The release is presented with a new high definition digital master. Yet the source footage limitations means that the footage looks like it is standard-definition only. The film presentation is average-at-best and the main benefit of the high-definition encoding is compression artifacts are less prevalent than visible on a standard DVD. Color reproduction and depth to the image remains average. Nonetheless, Tongues Untied looks decent given the quality of the source footage and Criterion has done an admirable job preserving the film as it was produced.

Tongues Untied Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release is presented in uncompressed PCM 2.0 stereo in 24 bit depth. The lossless audio track is acceptable quality. Dialogue is crisp and easy to understand throughout the documentary. The audio doesn't struggle with presenting the documentary. Though the track is somewhat average- sounding it works fine for the material.

Tongues Untied Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

To find out more regarding the supplemental features in The Signifyin' Works of Marlon Riggs collection, please refer to the main review page for the release.

Tongues Untied Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Notable for its frank portrayal of two black men kissing, Tongues Untied is an important documentary exploring the roles of black gay men – not only within the LGBTQ community but within the larger societal structures of the world. Tongues Untied explores the silence of gay black men and the role hyper-masculinity plays in causing a sense of repression within the gay black community. A vital documentary: don't miss it. Highly recommended.