“Cane River” (1982), a recently unearthed debut from the late writer/director Horace Jenkins, is now, after a year of remastering, available for streaming.
Part love story, part critique of colorism in Louisana, “Cane River” follows prodigal son Peter Metoyer (Richard Romain) as he finds a place in his hometown after an aborted football career in the big city. At an excursion to a plantation that was once owned by his family, Peter meets Maria Mathis (Tommye Myrick), a matriculating college freshman. Through horseback and golf cart riding, the two fall in love. But as is the case with most love stories, outside forces threaten to get in the way. In “Cane River,” these forces are the historic conflict between the Black descendants of slaves and the Black Creole population who joined the landowning white population in owning slaves.
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With the generous insight of critic and writer Tiana Reid, we look at this surprisingly urgent film (currently available from Criterion Channel and Kanopy) and all of its ideas seldom or never explored by Hollywood: rejecting the exploitation of Black athletes, intramural tensions within localized Black communities, and a narrative that places Black stories primarily in nature. (We consider Tiana’s writing on the film essential reading.)
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