My Brother’s Wedding opens with a man playing the harmonica and singing the blues. Pierce is then seen walking down the street when he gets called by a woman to see her sister’s baby. Pierce says that he doesn’t have time because he has to go to visit Soldier’s mother, but goes in anyway. At the house, Pierce asks who the father is and the woman says that he could be the father if he wants. Angered by the comment, Pierce leaves the house and continues his way to Soldier’s place.
At the house, Soldier’s mother Mrs. Richardson asks Pierce if Soldier would ever act his age and wants Pierce to keep him out of trouble. Pierce promises her by saying that Soldier wrote him a letter that said he would never go back to jail and even asked for a job. Mrs. Richardson asks about his brother’s wedding and Pierce tells her about how he doesn’t like her because she’s rich. Pierce leaves saying that he has to go work at his mother’s shop.
At the shop, Mr. Bitterfield comes in asking if Pierce’s mother, Mrs. Mundy, can mend the rip in his church-going pants. When Pierce goes in the back to consult his mother, she says to tell Mr. Bitterfield that they can fix it but to instead throw them in the trash and give Mr. Bitterfield a pair from the unclaimed box. Pierce then gets into a wrestling match with his father. Meanwhile, a man comes into the store asking for a job. Mrs. Mundy replies saying there are two grown men in the back that can help her. Turning around to see Pierce and his father still wrestling, the man leaves, as does Pierce’s parents.
Back at home, Pierce’s mother informs him that his brother, Wendell, and his fiancée, Sonia, are coming over. Pierce says he does not want to go, complaining that Sonia is always bragging about how her family is rich and privileged. She warns Pierce that he has to behave so Sonia can see that he is civilized. She then tells him to go over to the neighborhood elders, Big Momma and Big Daddy, to see if they need anything and to pick up a pot. Once there, Big Daddy gets mad at Pierce for being rude and not saying anything. Pierce explains that he has to get back to the house before Wendell gets there.
My Brother’s Wedding is a tragic comedy written by Charles Burnett about a man named Pierce Mundy (Everett Silas) who has low ambitions and no plans for the future. He settles for a job at his parent’s dry cleaners in South Central Los Angeles after being fired from his previous job. Pierce wastes his days fooling around and wasting time with his childhood friend, Soldier (Ronnie Bell), who was recently released from prison. When his brother Wendell (Monte Easter) plans on marrying a woman, Sonia (Gaye Shannon-Burnett), with a higher social class than he, his disdain for the woman prevents him from making the morally right decision.
My Brother’s Wedding (1983)
Directed by: Charles Burnett
Starring: Everett Silas, Jessie Holmes, Gaye Shannon-Burnett, Ronnie Bell, Sally Easter, Angela Burnett, Monte Easter
Screenplay by: Charles Burnett
Cinematography by: Charles Burnett
Film Editing by: Thomas Penick
Set Decoration by: Penny Barrett
Distributed by: Milestone Films, Les Films du Paradoxe (France)
Release Date: September 13, 1983
Visits: 53
