Biggie & Tupac

2002
6.7| 1h47m| R| en| More Info
Released: 11 January 2002 Released
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Budget: 0
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Official Website: http://www.nickbroomfield.com/biggieandtupac.html
Synopsis

In 1997, rap superstars Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace (aka Biggie Smalls, The Notorious B.I.G.) were gunned down in separate incidents, the apparent victims of hip hop's infamous east-west rivalry. Nick Broomfield's film introduces Russell Poole, an ex-cop with damning evidence that suggests the LAPD deliberately fumbled the case to conceal connections between the police, LA gangs and Death Row Records, the label run by feared rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight.

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Reviews

ShangLuda Admirable film.
AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.
Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
juancorrea503 So I have to place a disclaimer: I probably only watched 30 minutes or so. I loved a lot of the footage, so, I'm sure if someone is a fan of these artists, it's going to be interesting, regardless.There were several reasons why I shut this film off: 1) Don't do an ambush interview when you're trying to get an honest portrayal of these artists; it was excruciating to watch, and the Biggies mom interview - the camera work is awful, where she's over exposed and has heavy shadows on her face. 2) Talk to these interviewees and don't stick your big microphone in their face.It just made me feel this director didn't care one bit about the story of these two very important artists. He had all the right people and he ruined it. I'll never watch one of his films again. My two words to describe this film: excruciatingly painful
benwell2 Biggie and Tupac is a Documentary on the deaths of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls and the East Coast/, hip-hop/rap rivalry that happened in late 1996/1997. It has a very different style, and director Nick Broomfield is a very intrusive and un-forgiving documentarian. His unusual style puts me off of this documentary, and his constant repetitiveness and dull mono-tone voice adds insult to injury. Unlike a lot of documentaries Nick Broomfield is the main star in this documentary, and takes every opportunity to jump in front of the camera, and now and then throws in a rough piece-to-camera, describing what we have already just seen. However, there is some fantastic access, and I believe that Nick made the most of his contacts, and gained some fantastic access. His interviews with Tupac's mother, a very intense and truthful interview is just one of the fantastic moments in this film, as well as an extremely revealing interview with Biggies bodyguard, who reveals who he believes to of killed Biggie. From the amazing dangers taken, you can see that Nick Broomfield has a massive drive to make his documentary as revealing and factual as possible, and this is shown by the highly dangerous locations that they perspire to film in, one being one of the most notorious gun capitals in the east of America, and another being a high security prison. In both circumstances, Nick Broomfield fearlessly and intrepidly gets as much information as he can from local people and inmates, to get the broadest picture on the events as possible.While all these points are very impressive, you still cannot sway from the mindless boredom that Nick incites. His on screen demine is highly irritating. Another grudge I have for this movie is the lack of time. There is no natural progression between each interview, and the events jump from one to another, rather than unfolding as they actually did.
pwirth Biggie and Tupac is a chronology of Broomfield's complete failure to unearth any interesting material on his subjects, totally overshadowed by his blandiose, wooden narration.I found his attitude and treatment of his subjects to be insufferable, from his attempts at pidgin English (akin to reading Dick and Jane novels aloud) to his unprepared, incompetent interviews (showing up and ambushing people, losing sound files, etc.) Broomfield has a unique talent for getting in the way of the story he is purporting to tell. He was more interested in hearing himself talk, and following his own blundering, as he put up increasing barriers between himself and his subjects.In addition, how does the director expect us to be engaged by the story, when it is clear he has no interest in hearing what people have to say? Ambush journalism fails when you are being aggressive without asking anything of import. He can't ask an interesting question, how can one expect him to spin a compelling narrative?This movie was a pathetic attempt by a director worth ignoring.
LCParkes Anyone expecting a tawdry,shoddy sleazefest along the lines of "Kurt and Courtney" should be pleasantly surprised here- this is an excellent film.For a start, the conspiracy theory explored here is a far more credible one, and the evidence Broomfield turns up is very convincing in places. One has to wonder how genuine Broomfield's "camera on at all times" approach is, how much was created at the editing stage- he appears to get away with some very transgressive behaviour here on the basis of sheer amateurism, though it is clear the man has balls of iron. he thoughtlessly wanders through some of the worst neighbourhoods in LA and New York- in one classic scene his cameraman deserts him out of sheer fear, leaving him to manage a ludicrous prison interview with despotic Death Row records overlord Suge Knight alone. Irony being lost on Americans for the most part, Broomfield also manages to get away with some outrageous cheek- for instance asking Knight to deliver his "message for the kids" in a tone of smirking condescension.For the heads, there is some great, rare footage on offer- a teenage Biggie ripping up a street corner freestyle battle, hoods dancing on their cars at his funeral, an electrifying Snoop Dog calling out New York at the notorious 95 source awards....plenty in there for the hip hop fan, along with some vintage Biggie and (for some reason) Gang Starr on the soundtrack. Broomfield manages to talk to every major player in the drama, with the notable exception of Afeni Shakur- which also explains the lack of 2Pacs' music on the soundtrack.Despite its grim subject matter, there is much humour on offer here. In short, this is the best "rockumentary" in a very long time, and one that lingers in the mind for some time afterwards.Something of a triumph.