Review: 'Once Upon a Time in Harlem' revives the spirit of an age over an afternoon's party
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Set us as preferred A record of a gathering that revived a golden age, “Once Upon a Time in Harlem” is both an archival triumph and a celebration.It takes us into a 1972 party at Duke Ellington’s New York City townhouse, where invited Harlem Renaissance luminaries encountered a lively reunion arranged by nonfiction filmmaker William Greaves.
As the talk flies and arguments re-emerge, a vital era of Black political and artistic liberation suddenly materializes in a packed living room — as if waiting to be evoked by a shared spirit.An extraordinary you-are-there creation, it’s the documentary impulse at its most rewarding.It’s also technically a new work.
Greaves, who died in 2014, had envisioned a much larger project but never assembled his 16mm reunion footage.His widow Louise picked up the mantle and, following her death in 2023, their son David — who was also in the house that day as a young cameraman — has now edited the film to completion alongside his daughter Liani as producer.
And since we catch a glimpse of William’s own handwritten notes, hear his voice-over reciting Renaissance poems (and one of his own) and observe him on film tossing questions to his storied guests, “Once Upon a Time in Harlem” also counts as a tribute to the late filmmaker.Most known for the 1971 meta-fictional classic “Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One,” Greaves believed in the beautiful chaos of humans seeking connection.And what an atmosphere we receive here, excited by the warmth and energy of the images — that camera team was busy — and the buzz of joyful disagreement.
(Editors Lynn True and Anne De Mare find a miraculous pace.) The film is burnished throughout with split panels to accentuate the party’s animated cross talk, peppered with excerpts from one-on-one interviews that William filmed later.Movies Our three Sundance correspondents, Amy Nicholson, Mark Olsen and Joshua Rothkopf, pick t...