Cineaste, September 22nd, 1996
Documentary films about poets are highly problematical. Should the life or the poetry be highlighted? How can the two be related in an engaging manner? Is the film's primary purpose to win the poet new readers or to present his existing fans with an intimate portrait? The Black Unicorn, written, produced, and directed by Melba Boyd, offers brilliant solutions for these questions as it probes the life of Dudley Randall, Detroit's poet laureate and America's most innovative publisher of black poets.
The film opens with advice given to the young Randall by a critic "not to write on controversi...
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