While he may be more commonly associated with his blaxploitation film Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, or the merciless and scathing satire Watermelon Man, Melvin Van Peebles had quite a diverse body of work, which stretched from the earliest days of New Hollywood (some may even argue that he predated this movement), right into the heart of the 21st century. A vitally important artist who worked across every conceivable medium, telling stories that were original, insightful and often very funny, his career is fascinating, and should be celebrated as being just as influential as early pioneers of independent cinema like John Cassavetes and Roger Corman, the latter in particular being an interesting comparison purely because, much like Corman, Van Peebles constantly challenged conventions and worked across multiple genres. To see the true scope of his brilliance, we have to venture back to the start of his career with his directorial debut, the provocative and exceptional The Story of a Three-Day Pass, which tells the story of a young African-American G.I. stationed somewhere in France, and due to his good work, he is given a promotion and the opportunity to take leave for three days, which lead him to spend the time in Paris, where he meets a young French woman, with whom he has a whirlwind affair over those three days, only to return to find his actions had consequences amongst his peers and commanders, who don’t view engaging in an interracial relationship as particularly good behaviour. A story that originally had its roots in La Permission, a novel written by the director, The Story of a Three-Day Pass is a fascinating and bold commentary on race relations, and one of the most compelling depictions of the smaller but no less impactful consequences of a society built on segregation, told by someone whose blend of ferocious and subversive sense of humour make for quite a compelling film.

To understand the aspects that make The Story of a Three-Day Pass (which is by all accounts a very simple but effective film) so enduring, we have to look at Van Peebles as a storyteller, more than as someone who exists merely as a figurehead for a very particular segment of the movement that he inspired and to which he made invaluable contributions. His style of filmmaking was less about telling stories that delivered messages as it was about evoking a particular atmosphere, which comes about through his playful subversion of genre, his tendency towards constructing narratives that often didn’t have too much substance (or rather not as much as some of his contemporaries, who made more plot-based films) and sparse but memorable use of inserted abstractions, all of which form the foundation of a diverse and often quite strange directorial career, one which has always felt like it stands on the cutting edge of an industry that wasn’t quite sure what to think of the director and his experimental approach to filmmaking. With a film such as The Story of a Three-Day Pass, Van Peebles is proving that his work was bespoke – the plot wasn’t at all unique to his experiences, but yet it feels like very few other filmmakers could have made this film, whether it be making the specific stylistic and narrative choices, or tackling this material as a whole, which is precisely why it is difficult to categorize this as being a part of any known genre, which is the kind of challenge that Van Peebles actively embraced when crafting his films. You simply cannot place a film like this in any category – it is a wild, off-the-wall film that combines many different ideas, compressing them into only 90 minutes, in which time we traverse many fascinating themes, each one memorable in its own way.

The shadow of Sidney Poitier loomed large over black cinema around this time – in the year of this film’s release alone, he was in three major films, which was perhaps the ultimate peak of his popularity and talents. He is not present in The Story of a Three-Day Pass, and the only reason to bring Poitier up is to talk about the performance given by Harry Baird, who seems to be actively channelling the esteemed actor, portraying the part of Turner as if he were formed around the prototypes that were set by this generation of actors. This must have been intentional, since Van Peebles takes the character in directions that seem to be actively chasing after the legacy left by these actors, who were fierce and defiant in their protest, but also not immune to falling victim to the standards of the time. To have Baird stand in front of a mirror, his reflection spewing hatred and vitriol at him and everything that he represents, was a daring choice, and credit has to go to the actor for being able to deliver such a challenging performance formed on duality and complexity, while never going too far. Like many actors in Van Peebles’ films, Baird didn’t have much of a career previously, and he remained relatively obscure for the rest of his career – but for a brief shining moment, he was fashioned into a movie star, a debonair, handsome cad whose romantic pursuits we watched with great interest over the course of the film, and whose chemistry with co-star Nicole Berger was extremely palpable and the source of quite a lot of the film’s most captivating ideas, tying The Story of a Three-Day Pass together and creating an unforgettable and frequently compelling romantic drama.

Representation is important, and it seems undeniable that a black filmmaker being in charge of telling this story was imperative – there were many white directors at the time that had valiant intentions and were genuinely empathetic to the struggle of African-Americans, but their attempts to tell these stories, as good as their intentions may have been, often felt flat and lifeless in comparison to Van Peebles’ style, which is vibrant, exciting and unquestionably entertaining. This film is directed with effortless charisma, flowing with a kind of fluidity that we rarely find being made with this level of dedication and honesty, which is primarily when it feels so unique, with The Story of a Three-Day Pass benefiting from a more experimental style. The combination of the urbane, upbeat qualities of American independent cinema and the suspenseful, twisted sensibilities of the French New Wave (which Van Peebles undeniably used as an influence, after having lived in Paris for quite some time, which essentially spurred the creation of the novel on which this film was based) create quite a remarkable piece of filmmaking, a work that goes far beyond the confines of any genre, and instead delivers something unique, even if it isn’t always particularly easy to comprehend. It is primarily a work drawn from the school of social realism, but yet it still seems to be existing right on the edge of the mainstream, and the use of dream sequences don’t contribute much to the linear nature of the film, which is only effective when we can surrender its its peculiarities, which is not easy to do at first, but becomes effortless once we can understand precisely what Van Peebles was aiming to achieve with this film.

The Story of a Three-Day Pass is a very simple film on the surface – it isn’t asking for more than just our most basic attention, which is all it needs to be a triumphant, well-constructed independent drama that traverses the boundaries of multiple different genres, while never feeling overstuffed or unnecessarily convoluted, which is one of the many ways in which we can find value in what was being done with this relatively straightforward premise. Van Peebles was a remarkable filmmaker – his style is not for everyone, but it has a sense of urgency and complexity that is not easy to ignore, especially in terms of how he handles some of the more challenging material. Compelling in a way that feels revolutionary, but also never intent on falling victim to its own eccentricity, this film is navigating a very narrow thematic and tonal tightrope, which is held together with nuance, genuine insight and a lot of heartfulness, which is where some of the most emotional aspects of the story reside. Simple but evocative, and always quite subversive, we have to appreciate the sheer ambition when went into this film’s creation, as well as continue to embrace the director’s legacy, which has never necessarily been called into question, but rather overtaken by some of his contemporaries and those who were inspired by his work – Van Peebles was a true master, and while he may not receive the level of acclaim he may deserve, he remains one of the most original and fascinating filmmakers of his generation, with his first film being just as magnificent an achievement as just about anything else he did throughout his storied career.