After years of negotiation and delay She’s Gotta Have It is finally on dvd. I watched it the other night after not seeing in ten or so years. It was a film that changed many things, including my life. After meeting Spike Lee through a friend, I found that he lived two blocks from me in Fort Greene and went over to see it on an editing machine that dominated his one bedroom apartment. I ended up investing in the film and collaborating with Spike on a book titled Spike Lee’s Gotta Have It. That little black & white sex comedy went on to spark a wave of black cinema and led me to write the films, Strictly Business and CB4, dabble in short films and, eventually, to direct Life Support. I’d reviewed films before that, but it was my association with Spike that put me into the film business, giving me access and inspiration.

It is strange and beautiful to see She’s Gotta Have It now. It was shot in mid-80s Brooklyn by DP Ernest Dickerson and sprinkled with gorgeous photos by David Lee, and it captures a pre-gentrified brownstone Brooklyn of buppies, b-boys, baps and bohos that was my world. I lived in a duplex brownstone just a block from Fort Greene Park at a time when a generation of young artists were making our area into a very hip destination (the Marsalis Brothers, Wesley Snipes, Vernon Reid, Laurence Fishburne, Rosie Perez, so many others.) In real life I knew folks who could have walked right into the movie, people just like b-boy Mars Blackmon to street spirited designer Nola Darling. Aside from investing a bit of money in the film, a scene of a fire was shot in my backyard and another scene, shot in any empty upstairs apartment, ended up on the cutting room floor.

Watching it now I see where some of the acting is questionable and the script has some very obvious logic holes. But there is a spirit of fun, great comedy, and a easy sexuality in She’s that is undeniable. In fact I can’t think of another black film (and very few American) that handles the sex with such elegance, wit and care as this little indie film. Spike decided not to do a director’s commentary on this dvd, which is unfortunate since this film was difficult to get made and was the catalyst for a generation of films to come. That said She’s Gotta Have It is still an essential part of the canon of African-American cinema and, if you’ve never seen it, well worth your time.

peace