by SARAH ROWLAND

To say that Melvin Van Peebles was resourceful when he wrote, directed and starred in his revolutionary black power movie, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song would be a gross understatement. For starters, when he couldn't afford to operate within the various "lily white" production unions, he threw the teamsters off his scent by pretending to be making a porn flick. Then when he contracted gonorrhea while filming a love scene, he applied to the director's guild for compensation and used his settlement to buy more film. These are just a few of the crafty solutions he employed during the curse-laden production of 1971's top-grossing independent.

In fact, the events that took place behind the scenes are almost as entertaining as the movie itself. His son agrees. Mario Van Peebles wrote, directed and starred in the equally powerful docu-drama Baadasssss!, a tribute film that chronicles the making of his father's classic ghetto western about a street hustler who stands up to the "man."

"I thought, ‘What an unbelievable case of fact being more interesting than fiction,'" says Mario, explaining why he wanted to head up the project. "That and I happen to know the guy, so I thought I could get the option on his book for free, which was a consideration because I didn't have a lot of bread at the time. But I quickly found out that wasn't gonna happen. He said, ‘Yah, I love you but I don't want to get fucked on the deal.'"

Looking the part

The old man ended up cutting him a deal and only charged him $2,500 for the rights. Still, when it came to choosing a lead, junior didn't want any overhead at all, which is one of the reasons why he decided to cast himself. The result is one of Mario's best performances to date. As an actor who's played several historical figures, including Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali, he admits this was his most challenging role.

"It was a trip," says Mario, who premiered his film at the 2003 Toronto film fest. "On some level, we all play our parents unconsciously. But to play them consciously is an unparallelled experience. I mean, to sit next to my dad, who was seeing it for the first time, while 600 other people watched my opinion of him and to see his face was just such a kick."

For the most part, his father was flattered by his portrayal. However, he momentarily questioned Mario's interpretation when he saw the scene where Melvin and producer Bill Harris appear to be in bed together. The gag is a couple of chicks are still sleeping under the covers but for a few awkward seconds, Melvin wasn't impressed.

"He gave me a look like, ‘What the fuck,'" says Mario, laughing as he recalls his dad's reaction in the packed theatre. "But seriously, his only note to me when I told him that I wanted to do the story was ‘Don't make me too damn nice,' which was basically saying, ‘Have at it. Make the movie you want to make.'"

Father knows best

In the spirit of keeping it in the family, Mario cast his son Mandela as an angel who sweetly repeats the haunting hymn made famous from the original movie: "You bled my momma/ You bled my poppa/ But you won't bleed me."

Mandela's role is a little bit less demanding than Mario had in his father's film. At age 12, Melvin directed his son in a sex scene with an adult women, something that is thoroughly addressed in Baadasssss!.

"He saw it as a family business and he thought that if I wanted to be in it, then I should be in all aspects of it and not be shielded from it," says Mario, before adding, "I wouldn't do that as a parent."

While he doesn't condone nudity for his underage kinder, he does admit to being a bit of a buster on the set. He remembers one day during production when Mandela wanted to take off with his friends on his lunch break.

"I heard my father's voice saying, ‘Get your tail back here. This is business and I've got everything on the line here,'" says Mario. "But it wasn't my father's voice. It was my own and I realized that the distance between me and dad was not as great as I would have liked."

Mario may have more in common with his poppa than he cares to admit, but that doesn't diminish his respect for him. He, along with several directors, including John Singleton and Spike Lee, are grateful for Melvin's contribution to independent black cinema.

"At the end of day, I dig what he did and I dig what he stands for," says Mario. "I know that I wouldn't get to do what I do as a filmmaker had he not blazed a trail for all of us."

Baadasssss! opens Friday, Sept. 3, at the Cinéma du Parc

>> Movie Listings