Sunday, August 24 screening: The Big Bird Cage (1972) d. Jack Hill

Deep in the jungles of the Philippines, women are held captive by sadistic guards who exploit and abuse their prisoners, forcing them work in the sugar mill known as the “big bird cage.” A Marxist terrorist group led by the seductive, tough and no-nonsense Blossom decide to infiltrate the prison, stage a rebellion and free the women from their captors while bringing down the “bird cage” in a blaze of fire and bullets.

The Big Bird Cage belongs to the distinct subgenre of “Women in Prison” movies, a type of exploitation film from the 1970s that promised audiences lots of naked women, taboo-for-the-time subject matter, and, if they’re lucky, some great action set pieces. Jack Hill, who almost exclusively directed genre exploitation films, has become a cult figure among fans of sleazy movies, and there’s a reason his name and films live on while dozens of cheap skin flicks have long been forgotten. The Big Bird Cage, unlike a lot of its cheap imitators, is actually fun to watch aside from its more lurid qualities. The on-location shooting in the Philippines looks magnificent, the acting is above par, and the action sequences are incredibly well staged. The Big Bird Cage delivers exactly what you want from an exploitation film and does it with remarkable style considering its budget and story limitations.

But let’s be real, there’s one name associated with The Big Bird Cage, and it’s not the director, but the star, Pam Grier. Hill had discovered Grier, and she became known to genre fans in the earlier Women in Prison film The Big Doll House, which The Big Bird Cage acts as a spiritual sequel to. Hill would go on to direct Grier in blaxploitation classics like Coffy and Foxy Brown. Like in those films, Grier here is a tough, badass woman, who leads the other prisoners in a revolt against their captors with a little help from her sleazy boyfriend Django, played by another genre star, Sid Haig.

Grier’s films, like all exploitation films, were targets of controversy at the time, and their merits are still debated by audiences and film critics today. Grier, however, always defended her film roles and said she wanted her characters to be a positive influence for black women.

“So maybe they meant it was ‘exploiting’ the woman, the little woman who’s not supposed to fight for herself, supposed to let the man come in and save her,” Grier said.  “Well, sometimes they’re not there, and you have to be a little bit exploitative to save your ass, OK?”

If you like The Big Bird Cage, check out…

The Big Doll House (1971)

d. Jack Hill

Of the two early Jack Hill and Pam Grier Women in Prison films, The Big Doll House was a bigger hit then The Big Bird Cage at the time, though its retrospective legacy has faltered slightly. That’s probably because The Big Bird Cage is a little less lurid, lighter on its feet and a lot funnier than its predecessor. Still, the story of the genre, and Pam Grier, can’t be told without her first starring role which gave birth dozens of pale imitators in the years to come.

Coffy (1973)

d. Jack Hill

Pam Grier’s big breakout movie, and one of the quintessential blaxploitation films. Grier stars as Coffy, a nurse who turns seductive vigilante to take down drug dealers and corrupt officials responsible for her sister’s heroin addiction, and in turn became an icon of the genre – cool, sexy and unapologetically in-charge. Grier would return in more blaxploitation films in the 1970s, including Foxy Brown, Friday Foster and Sheba, Baby, more or less playing the same badass character, but Coffy remains the strongest of these films, with its gritty 70s aesthetic, hip soundtrack, and kinetic independent spirit.

Jackie Brown (1997)

d. Quentin Tarantino

And for my third recommendation, how about another film with Pam Grier and Sid Haig?

Jackie Brown is widely seen as Quentin Tarantino’s love letter to blaxploitation cinema, and no doubt the casting of Pam Grier is a deliberate homage to the genre. But in following up the explosive success of Pulp Fiction, Tarantino crafts a slow-burn character study that blends suspense, soul, and sharp dialogue, anchored by Pam Grier’s powerful, and understated performance -- a flipside to her more famous 70s characters. While Jackie Brown may not be the famed director’s most beloved movie, it did mark a turning point in his filmography, turning his homages and allusions to genre film into more mature, personal and thoughtful films.