The Story of a Three Day Pass (1967)

Melvin Van Peebles's debut feature film is an exhilarating motion picture that merges the experimental techniques of the French New Wave with a decidedly African American point of view, resulting in a strikingly original cinematic voice. Based on his novel of the same name, the film tells the story of Turner (Harry Baird), a black American G.I. in France who has just been promoted to the position of assistant orderly. Granted a three-day pass by his captain, Turner drives to Paris and visits a bar where he meets Miriam (Nicole Berger), a pretty white woman. The two immediately form a strong connection and further their relationship with a drive to the ocean, where they rent a hotel room. While visiting the beach, three of Turner's colleagues bump into him on the last day of his vacation and discover his interracial romance. When he returns to his base, his promotion has been revoked, reminding him that his skin color will never allow him to be the human being that he so badly wants to be. Van Peebles stuffs an overflowing amount of visual tricks into his film, including freeze-frames, quick cuts, and reenactments of his characters' inner thoughts, firmly establishing himself as one of the most influential black directors in the world.