When considering the overall success of a musical group there is many factors that need to be considered. There is the talent of the individual members; the influence on other musicians and the affect they have on the popular culture. Most people will instantly place groups like ‘The Beatles’ and ‘The Rolling Stones’ in the category of the most successful groups ever. One group has had a similar, albeit more genre specific influence; the Wu Tang Clan. This group of hip hop artists changed the landscape of urban music. The innovations they provided are still rippling through the music industry. The new documentary ‘Wu: The Story of the Wu-Tang Clan’ by Gerald Barclay examines this group; its formation, rise to popularity and lasting influences. Even if you are not into this particular type of music this is a story that will hold your interest. This is the American dream being played out in real life. A group of nine young men came from a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York to international acclaim by redesigning the music scene. You have to admire the tenacity of this group as they worked to get to the top of their chosen field. This is not a glossed over fluff piece. It gives a hard nosed look at the group with al their foibles and failures that they have encountered. The documentary has made the rounds in a few independent film festivals here and in England and has picked up a few awards there along the way. It was made and shown by BET here in the States and is now available on DVD through their distributor, Paramount Pictures. The film is fascinating to watch and informative especially for those into hip hop.

Gerald Barclay is one of the up coming young directors on the scene today. He has two other works on his resume so far; a drama ‘Bloody Streetz’ and a documentary ‘Liberia: The Love of Liberty Brought Us Here’. He also paid his dues as an archivist for the documentary ‘Biggie and Tupac’. He has an excellent style of presenting the information here but one thing that has to be kept in mind; this is an ‘official authorized’ documentary. This translates to some of the darker moments are glossed over more than a bit. There is also so much information that many of the aspects of this group you may be most interested in are not handled with the depth that you might like. Part of this may have been a conscious decision on the part of Mr. Barclay not to pander to those only interested in the sensationalistic aspects of the members of this group. There has been a lot in the tabloid press and other like minded films that much of this has been dragged through the sight of the audience all too much. The focus here appears to be the overall arc the lives of the members took. There was violence and a lot of controversy and it is mentioned just not concentrated on.

The group started in Brooklyn in the early nineties. The original core members were three cousins; Robert Diggs (RZA), Gary Grice (GZA) and Russell Jones (Ol' Dirty Bastard or ODB). The three formed ‘Force of the Imperial Master’ later known as ‘All Together Now’ and started to make singles. They became an underground hit in Brooklyn and Staten Island. The moved along to Miami where they picked up momentum and eventually went on to solo projects. In 1993 they would reunited under the name Wu Tang Clan. Joining the original three were Ghostface Killah (Dennis Coles), Inspectah Deck (Jason Hunter), Masta Killa (Elgin Turne), Method Man (Clifford Smith), Raekwon (Corey Woods) and U-God (Lamont Hawkins). As you can infer from the name of the group the members were fascinated with Asia culture especially the martial arts flicks.

The film opens with a suitable title card for the subjects; ‘To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe. – Anatole France’. The first shot is the group performing in Hawaii in 1997. The audience is a mixture of races all enjoying the music together. The scene moves to one of New York City were the Wu Tang Clan logo is in the moon; reflecting in the water as a parody of the Batman shot. The director personalizes the film right up front. He describes how he moved to a small neighborhood in Staten Island in 1983. Some years later he would begin his association with the band that would become the Wu Tang Clan. A documentary can either be a straightforward depiction of facts or come from the personal perspective of the film maker. Barclay is honest with his audience about this piece being from his vantage point. He grew up with the group and received his first big break as a director with some of their music videos. He acknowledges his personal and professional debt to them and this documentary is a tribute to them. As mentioned it does go into the less pleasant elements of their rise, fall and resurrection; all part of what made them a powerful force in the industry. Barclay takes the audience back to the Park Hills section of Staten Island. He grew up within a few blocks of the members of the groups. Some, like ODB, lived in Brooklyn but frequently hung out on the island. Barclay studied film direction in college and directed a music video for Method Man. Barclay then went on to produce ‘The New York Party Scene’ which featured new hip hop artists. The major introduction of the Wu Tang Clan happened on a special episode featuring them. This was on August 19, 1993.

From there he shows how the group rose in popularity. It provided a new sound that first swept over the residents of New York and then on to the nation. With this many volatile and talented people in one group there was bond to be conflicts in temperament and creative focus. They would go on their own only to rejoin the group again. One event would change the group; the death by drug overdose of ODB. By then rivalries and feuds were pervasive in the group. The film has many previously unseen interviews with the group and the people who knew them best. There is a first person feel to this movie that works extremely well here. This was one of the first hip hoop groups to manage to transcend racial lines. Their audiences were from all walks of life. In the end it was the factors that made them a success that broke them apart. They were ambitious and driven which is a great thing to have but also makes it difficult to work on a collaborative effort.

BET and Paramount have added some extras to the DVD release of this film. There are many extended interviews with friends, family and members of the group that provide more in the way of insight and background into these talented men. Also included is the music video that started it all ‘Protect Ya Neck’.