SPOILER ALERT: the following article contains massive spoilers, including the ending. If you have not yet seen the movie, proceed at your own risk, or better, come back to this article later!
Tensions and temperatures rise over the course of an afternoon recording session in 1920s Chicago as a band of musicians await trailblazing performer, the legendary “Mother of the Blues,” Ma Rainey (Academy Award® winner Viola Davis). Late to the session, the fearless, fiery Ma engages in a battle of wills with her white manager and producer over control of her music. As the band waits in the studio’s claustrophobic rehearsal room, ambitious cornet player Levee (Chadwick Boseman) — who has an eye for Ma’s girlfriend and is determined to stake his own claim on the music industry — spurs his fellow musicians into an eruption of stories revealing truths that will forever change the course of their lives.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Video Summary
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Plot Summary and Synopsis
On July 2, 1927, Ma Rainey is a highly regarded blues singer who has recently been contracted by white producers. A recording session for songs by Ma is scheduled by her manager Irvin to take place at Paramount recording studios in Chicago. Seasoned Georgia Jazz Band members Toledo, Cutler, and Slow Drag arrive on time without Ma, frustrating her producer Mel Sturdyvant. They are soon joined by Levee Green, the band’s overconfident trumpeter who has shown Sturdyvant his original compositions in the hopes of breaking away from Ma and getting his own record deal. The rest of the band disapproves of this.
Ma arrives an hour late with her girlfriend Dussie Mae and her nephew Sylvester. Ma immediately forces Sturdyvant to have the opening words of the album be spoken by Sylvester, who has a blocking stutter. As a result, the group has to do multiple takes of the song “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” much to the band’s frustration.
Ma interrupts the session after Irvin fails to bring her Coca-Cola, forcing Slow Drag and Sylvester to get her one. Ma complains to Cutler that her white bosses do not care for her as a person in part because of her race, and he agrees; she tells him that she does not want to be bossed around for her own art and should be allowed to do what she pleases. Meanwhile, Levee and Dussie Mae have sex in the practice room.
The group finally manages to go through a full session but discovers an equipment failure has caused it not to be recorded. The band blames Levee, who they think tripped over a wire while eyeing Dussie. Their argument leads to the religious Cutler talking about how a preacher he once knew was forced to dance for some white men and tear up his Bible while waiting for his train. Levee brushes off the story, saying that if there was a God, he would care for black people, which he never has. Cutler attacks Levee in anger, leading Levee to briefly brandish a knife in retaliation.
The group finally finishes recording, but Ma fires Levee soon afterward, believing his ambition to be detrimental to the band. Levee then meets with Sturdyvant about his original songs but discovers that he will only purchase the songs, believing them to not be suited for a black singer. Levee suffers a mental breakdown, and after Toledo accidentally steps on his new shoes, Levee fatally stabs him in the back with the knife. Cutler and Slow Drag leave in horror as a regretful Levee cradles Toledo’s corpse.
The Ending
Later, Sturdyvant records Levee’s songs with a band consisting entirely of white men.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0).