Biggie and Tupac (2002)

In this probing documentary from director Nick Broomfield, the notoriously abrasive Englishman conducts his own investigation of two separate drive-by shootings that took the lives of rappers Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur in the late 1990s. Starting with the original police investigations, Broomfield attempts to knit together pieces of information while establishing the framework of the Los Angeles gangsta rap scene. He also presents home video footage of the rappers before they became household names. But it's when Broomfield tracks down former LAPD officer Russell Poole that the conspiracy theory begins to eme...
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rge. Poole has been working incessantly to expose corruption within the Los Angeles Police Department, collecting evidence that connects off-duty police officers to the murders of both rappers. Also targeted is Death Row Records head honcho Marion "Suge" Knight, whose well-documented criminal tactics lead Broomfield to implicate Knight as a key figure in both murders. A brief interview with Knight in prison proves futile, leaving Broomfield with an endless supply of questions but no concrete answers. In true Broomfield fashion, BIGGIE AND TUPAC comes off more as an entertaining shockumentary than a serious work of cinematic journalism, but it is this tone that makes it virtually impossible to dismiss.
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Nick Broomfield, director of Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam and Kurt and Courtney, unleashes another provocation with Biggie and Tupac. Considering Broomfield's track record, that the film is dangerous, sensational, and occasionally very funny is no surprise. What is somewhat shocking, in a very rewarding and commendable way, is how moving Biggie and Tupac is. Using archival footage of the two rap stars and interviews with many of those involved, Broomfield uncovers significant evidence that corrupt LAPD cops were involved in the two deaths, and that the FBI was doing surveillance on Biggie (Christopher Wallace) o...
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n the night he was murdered. Broomfield's film also strongly suggests that Death Row Records head Suge Knight orchestrated both murders. Few satisfactory conclusions are drawn, but the film should at least encourage further investigation of these claims. By running the camera constantly, even before the interviews begin, Broomfield frequently catches his subjects off guard. But even if Broomfield had uncovered nothing, Biggie and Tupac would still be an entertaining and valuable telling of the tragic deaths of two talented young men. The filmmaker's interviews with Biggie's friends, and particularly his charming mother, Voletta Wallace, paint a picture of a surprisingly sensitive and goodhearted young man. Broomfield was granted less access to Tupac Shakur's family (Tupac's mother is still involved in business dealings with Knight; she doesn't appear in the film and she refused Broomfield permission to use Tupac's music), but he still manages to expose the controversial rapper's essential humanity. Some will find Broomfield's sarcastic and edgy attitude grating. He doesn't have the puppy-dog charm of a Michael Moore. But with Biggie and Tupac, he's shown a bit more of his sensitive side, and he's taken a step forward as a filmmaker.
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When rapper Notorious B.I.G. (aka Biggie Smalls) died in a hail of bullets outside the Soul Train Music Awards in Los Angeles in March of 1997, it appeared to be the latest salvo in the East Coast/West Coast rap/gang rivalry that had claimed the life of Tupac Shakur six months earlier in Las Vegas. Three years later, however, Los Angeles police Detective Russell Poole, who had been assigned to the Smalls case, went public with a startling accusation: the LAPD's top brass derailed the investigation when Poole began uncovering evidence that tied fellow LAPD officer David Mack to the rap star's murder. What if one o...
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f L.A.'s most infamous unsolved homicides involved a cop? Might it furthermore be connected to the city's unfolding Rampart scandal -the worst in LAPD history? Through a series of interviews as well as newly unveiled evidence, the film reveals some shocking details about the still unsolved murder of two of the biggest stars in rap.
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In deze documentaire probeert Nick Broomfield (Kurt & Courtney) achter de waarheid te komen over de dood van rappers Tupac Shakur (2pac) en Christopher Wallace (The Notorious B.I.G.), en de rivaliteit tussen Oost- en Westkust rappers die rond 1996 oplaaide. Via interviews met diverse betrokkenen wordt een beeld geschetst waarin de FBI hoofdverantwoordelijk is voor de moorden.

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