This is a gorgeous film directed by Barry Levinson (Diner, Homicide, Liberty Heights, etc.) It’s a talent-laden (Armin Mueller-Stahl, Aiden Quinn, and a very young Elijah Wood play the male leads) drama set in ’50s Baltimore. The film explores 3 generations of a tightly-knit, middle-class, Jewish-American family. My dad really liked this story; it’s suitable for all ages!
Mississippi Masala (1999)
I tell all my desi friends (and anyone who likes good films) about this one! I first saw it as an undergrad. This small-budget/educational/realistic film was directed by Mira Nair; she also plays a small role as a catty auntie. The screenwriter, Nair’s close friend/collaborator Sooni Taraporevela, said the basis for the love story between Meena (Sarita Choudhury) and Demetrius (Denzel Washington) was partly inspired by a fellow Indian gal pal at Harvard who fell in love with a black (Jamaican) man. The dialogue is spot-on and the sweet romance between Meena and Demetrius is as hot as the setting (small towns of Mississippi). There is another kind of love in this story- Jay (veteran Indian actor Roshan Seth), Meena’s father/lawyer-turned-motel manager, desperately trying to get back property/citizenship in his native Uganda (scenes were filmed in Nair’s own Kampala house).
Sidenote: I saw Sarita at a staged play reading in NYC (back in 2006). Film does NOT do her justice; she’s stunning in real life!
My Family/Mi Familia (1995)
Unfair deportation, police aggression, gangs/crime, Catholicism, and the ties that bind families are explored in one of my all-time favorite films. I saw this first during my 12th grade American History class; later I saw it w/ my family (they all liked it a lot, too). It was directed superbly by a Californian of Mexican heritage, Gregory Nava (Selena, Frida). The music is an integral part of the story, as is the moral compass/strength of matriarch Maria Sanchez, who is played by Jennifer Lopez (younger) and Jenny Gago (older). The male leads are played by Jacob Vargas (Jose), Esai Morales (Chucho), and Jimmy Smits (Jimmy). Edward James Olmos plays the aspiring writer, also the narrator. Scott Bakula plays the husband of Toni (Constance Marie). The setting is primarily East L.A. (a long-established Latino neighborhood).
Nuovomundo/Golden Door (1996)
Don’t let the language (primarily Italian) deter you from this unique/educational film; it contains some magical realism. It was produced by the famed Martin Scorcese, himself a proud Italian-American. The (nearly unspoken) love story in the film is between kind-hearted Italian peasant Salvatore (Vincenzo Amato) and mysterious/redheaded Englishwoman Lucy (Charlotte Gainsbourg). Salvatore decides to sail to the U.S. so his family, which includes two teen sons and mother, can survive. Crops won’t grow on his land, and his brother is already settled in NYC. However, after their ship lands on Ellis Island, there are more tests/tribulations ahead!
Liberty Heights (1999)
Another of Levinson’s fine films- this time focusing on brothers who live in a Jewish-American enclave of ’50s Baltimore. The narrator, 17 y.o. Van (Ben Foster), and his college-going brother, Ben (Adrien Brody) are good kids trying to figure themselves out. You will relate to this film, especially if you are a 1st generation American, as the Kurtzman brothers navigate around heritage, parents, and wider racial issues of the ’50s. Van befriends Sylvia (Rebekah Johnson), the only black girl in his class. Ben makes new friends at a party and eventually falls for Dubbie (Carolyn Murphy), a gorgeous/troubled WASP. Yussel (David Krumholtz), Ben’s best pal/smart-aleck, provides a lot of the comedy. The parents in the film are portrayed by Joe Mantegna and Bebe Neuwirth.
The Namesake (2006)
This is the first film exploring two generations of an Indian-American family (Bengali in heritage); it is based on Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel and directed by Mira Nair. I saw it in 3 different theaters w/ different groups of family/friends (who all loved it). Gogol/Nikhil (Kal Penn) and his little sister, Sonia, grow up on Long Island, the children of successful/overprotective immigrant parents, professor Ashok (Irrfan Khan) and homemaker Ashima Ganguli (Tabu). Though the novel’s main focus was Gogol, Nair takes a deeper focus into the slow-burn love story between Ashok and Ashima (I enjoyed their scenes most). Irrfan Khan is amazing; too bad he decided not to come to Hollywood!
Ella No Quiere Dormir Sola (She Doesn’t Want to Sleep Alone)
Director Natalia Beristain
This is a film about the connection between two true-to-life women. Director Natalia Beristain based this film partly on the final years of her grandmother, who was a well-known actress in her native Mexico, just like the older protagonists- Dolores (Adriana Roel). The younger protagonist, Amanda (Mariana Gaja), is an out-of-work 33 year-old with a love for photography. Since her father (played by Arturo Beristain, the director’s father) is out of town shooting his latest film, Amanda has to look out for her grandmother, who suffers from both alcoholism and dementia. Dolores is stubborn, prideful, but still has some spark in her, while her mind goes from her glory days onscreen (she was a vivacious beauty) to the banality of modern life (living in an old folks’ home). Dolores loves swimming, so spends hours in the pool. Amanda joins her and then takes some photos. Spending time with her grandmother helps Amanda , who tends to be defensive and distant (even with her caring boyfriend), view herself in a new light.
De Tu Ventana a La Mia (From Your Window to Mine)
Director Paula Ortiz
First time director, Paula Ortiz, also wrote this fine film (which is epic, yet intimate, in scope). Three women of different ages and personalities, living in different times, go through personal turmoil (which any woman can relate to). “The stories of these types of women were not told- they were silent. They didn’t choose their lives,” the director commented.
In 1923, the teenaged Violeta (Leticia Dolero), a petite, delicate beauty is sheltered by her gentle grandmother and teacher (a respected medical doctor). Her mother had some sort of mental illness, so the doctor gives her a potion to drink each day. Violeta falls deeply in love with a college boy who stays at her house over a few weeks. In 1941, Ines (Maribel Verdu from Pan’s Labyrinth and Y Tu Mama Tambien), has long been in love with Paco, an anti-Franco activist. They get married before he’s captured and jailed (in a partly underground prison). Ines, a strong country woman, becomes pregnant and continues to earn a living (in a harsh, desert-like climate). Ines was based partly on Ortiz’s grandmother. In 1975, Luisa (Luisa Gavaza, a character actress in her native Spain), is diagnosed with breast cancer. She doesn’t realize that a man she sees every day is in love with her, and dreams of heroes from classic movies. Her partner in life is her older sister, also unmarried, who cooks and cares for her without much complaint. Luisa was based on the director’s aunt, who lived though the last days of dictatorship.
I will not fall into despair! I will keep myself hardy until freedom is opportune! -Solomon Northrup
This film is being called a Pan-African film, since the director (Steve McQueen) is a black Briton, the star (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is Nigerian-British, and the female lead (Lupita Nyong’o) is Kenyan. As we have seen, outsiders are often the best storytellers of the American experience, of which slavery is a (large) part.
Solomon (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and fellow slaves in sugarcane field
I went to see this film during its second week of release; the theater was packed. Yes, it was difficult (at times) to handle. One of my friends, a lawyer with a background in civil rights, commented that “it should be taught in schools.” Based on a true story (memoir), 12 Years a Slave basically blows every other film I’ve seen about slavery out of the water; nothing even comes close!
Alex Haley’s Roots (starring a young LeVar Burton) is a fine TV miniseries, but will look outdated to younger viewers. Even one of my favorite films, Glory, is told mainly through the eyes of its white hero, Col. Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Broderick), not the enlisted men of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Regiment (including Andre Braugher, Morgan Freeman, and Oscar-winning Supporting Actor Denzel Washington). Queen (starring a young Halle Berry) is another of Haley’s stories turned mini-series; many will find the (inherently unequal) romance between a white boy and one of his family’s slave girls problematic. Amistad is a powerful film, but it’s focus is mainly on a group of white abolitionist men; Ejiofor has a small role as an interpreter in that film.
SPOILERS: Don’t read further if you have not yet seen, or don’t want to know, details from this film.
Solomon with his family
This film is told in flashbacks through the eyes of a free man and talented violinist, Solomon Northrup (Ejiofor, finally in a star-making role). He lives a comfortable life with his loving wife (a well-respected cook) and two adoring children in upstate NY at the start of the tale. He has a fondness for nice clothes. One day, two white men from Washington, DC, approach Solomon about making some (fast) money with their traveling circus show. Solomon goes to DC with them and works for 2 weeks, before they drug him (during a lavish dinner) and sell him into slavery. Solomon wakes up in a dark cell, chained up like an animal, but there’s nothing he can do (being in Virginia). He keeps crying out that he’s a “free man,” but no one will listen.
Solomon gets to know the others being held with him, including a well-spoken woman, Eliza (Adepero Oduye), who was once the favored slave of her owner, and has a daughter by him. She also has a adolescent son, who Solomon comforted when he was separated from his family. After this master died, his daughter had them all sold. Solomon, Eliza, and a dozen others are taken further South (via large riverboat).
One young man, Clemens (Chris Chalk from The Newsroom), explains that he shouldn’t be sold further South, since he was taken from his master. He talks tough about escaping by attacking the sailors, though they are greatly outnumbered. Another man (Michael K. Williams from The Wire) is stabbed to death before he can make a move. (I read that fans of The Wire were especially shocked to see such a strong man killed so easily/quickly.) A beautiful young woman grabs onto Solomon’s hand, not in passion, but with loneliness. We wonder how long ago was she loved by anyone?
Solomon and Clemens (Chris Chalk) witness brutality on the boat
Paul Giamatti plays a callous/brutal slave trader, ironically named Mr. Freeman, and does an excellent job. Clemens is “rescued” by his rightful master, to whom he clings like a thankful little boy. Why? Because it’s the master he knows, and has treated him decently. Freeman separates Eliza from her son without flinching, since he can get a great price for a healthy, adolescent boy.
Solomon and fellow enslaved meet slave trader Mr. Freeman (Paul Giamatti)
When a kindly slaveowner, Mr. Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch), tries to buy Eliza and her daughter together, Freeman ups the price of the little girl. He can get a fine price for her in Louisiana, since she’s half-white and “will grow to beauty.” (This is what Eliza feared all along- shudder!)
Eliza (Adepero Oduye) gives into despair
He [Mr. Ford] has a debt problem and can’t manage his business- he sells human beings in order to make himself solvent. -Benedict Cumberbatch
Mr. Ford, who runs a small mill, buys Solomon and Eliza. When they get to his home, Ford comments to his wife that the separation “couldn’t be helped.” Mrs. Ford lightly tells Eliza: “Your children will soon be forgotten.” (This made the audience gasp with shock.) Solomon tries to calm Eliza, but she stays despondent. Mrs. Ford grows “weary” of Eliza’s crying and has her sold away.
It doesn’t take long for Solomon’s intelligence to show, impressing Master Ford, but garnering the wrath of his insecure overseer, Tibeats (Paul Dano), who has a keen dislike of the African race. (That song he sings is horrid!) When Solomon’s plan works, Mr. Ford presents him with a violin.
Solomon impresses his owner Mr. Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch), not overseer Tibeats (Paul Dano)
Who can forget the long, yet highly effective, hanging scene? Wow! McQueen keeps the camera focused (for a long time) on Solomon, struggling to stay alive, while the other slaves go about their daily routine. Thus, the audience can’t look away! Master Ford takes Solomon into the house one night to protect him. After barely escaping death, Solomon lies in the foyer, shaking and speechless. Ford fetches his rifle, knowing that Tibeats and his brothers seek to kill Solomon. He tells Solomon that he’ll “transfer the debt” to Mr. Epps. I was a bit surprised to see Cumberbatch (the quintessential posh Brit) in this film, but he did a fine job, as usual.
Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender) reads The Bible while his wife (Sarah Paulson) looks on
How brutal is Mr. Epps? Well, during a recent Daily Show interview, Irish actor Michael Fassbender explained that the saying “don’t be such an Epps” still exists in a part of Louisiana. Master Epps owns a cotton plantation, twists The Bible to his liking, and is liberal with the whip. From the start, Epps takes a dislike to Solomon (who is smarter than his owner, but not so good at picking cotton). A petite, soft-spoken slave woman, Patsey (Nyong’o), is the best picker in the field. “God give her to me,” Epps comments, after he praises her work. (Fassbender is quite creepy in this scene!)
Mistress Epps scratches the face of Patsey (Lupita Nyong’o)
It turns out that alcohol is not Epps’ only weakness- he wants Patsey to yield to his “love” (though he doesn’t know the meaning of the word). When Epps comes to Patsey late at night, she stays as still as she can and won’t look him in the eyes. Mistress Epps (Sarah Paulson from Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip) focuses all her rage at Patsey (throwing a heavy vase; scratching her cheek) in front of the other slaves. (I’ve never seen Paulson in such a meaty film; she’s very scary!)
Epps puts his wife in her place
We get to see Patsey singing and making straw dolls in the fields. And we see the desperation in Epps’ eyes when he’s near Patsey. Why is his wife so one-note? What’s her deal? An African-American journalist shares her analysis:
A white woman’s rage: privileged with no position, positioned with no power, powerful with no promise of independence, fidelity or safety. The white woman could not properly direct her rage at her husband, she could not rail against white male supremacy. She too was in hell, and Black enslaved women were the only ones in the chambers below her. -Michaela Angela Davis
Patsey seeks respite with friendly Mistress Shaw (Alfre Woodard)
[Slave narratives are…] vital for us to have our feet on balanced ground in the future. I think it’s a chunk of our history that we are in denial about and that we don’t accept. And it is the root, I would say, of our contemporary domestic problems. -Alfre Woodard
On her off day, Patsey spends time with Mistress Shaw (Alfre Woodard, one of my favorite actresses), the wife of a neighboring farmer, who used to be a slave herself. Master Shaw fell in love with her, she encouraged his affections, and now lives in ease and comfort. “In time, the good Lord will handle ’em all,” she tells Solomon, when she sees his downtrodden face. Patsey and Solomon have some tea with her, a brief respite from their lives.
Patsey begs Solomon to end her misery
One of the saddest scenes in the film is when Patsey wakes Solomon up late at night, and begs him to drown her in the nearby river. She doesn’t have the courage to kill herself, and knows it’s not the Christian way. Solomon is horrified by her request- he can’t do that!
Solomon convinces Epps to trust him over Armsby
A white indentured man, Armsby (Garrett Dillahunt from Raising Hope), comes to work on the farm. When he brings in a small load of cotton, Epps gives him a few encouraging words, but whips a few of the slaves (who were also bad pickers that day). After Solomon is whipped, Armsby tends to his wounds and tells his life story. Solomon asks him to mail a letter, but he’s not to be trusted! When Epps confronts Solomon, he has to think fast and convince his master that Armsby (the newcomer) is the liar. Notice how Epps often leans on his slaves, as if they’re furniture? But in this scene (pictured above), I thought the director was also trying to show the terrible embrace of slavery in which these two men were bound.
Solomon uses blackberry juice to secretly write a letter
After a long internal struggle, Solomon reconciles himself to his position as a slave (like all the others in the fields). He joins fellow slaves in song in one pivotal scene.
Bass (Brad Pitt) is against slavery
When a traveling builder from Canada, Mr. Bass (Brad Pitt, also a producer), comes to work on a project, Solomon finds a sensible/sympathetic ear. This self-made man is not scared to tell Epps that he feels slavery is inherently wrong. Finally, Solomon reveals his story and gives him a letter. Notice how Bass is sitting on a beam above Solomon? (Some critics found Pitt’s presence distracting, but I saw no problem.)
Solomon looks up at Bass
There is no Hollywood ending here; an elderly white store owner travels down South to vouch for Solomon. Epps rages at him, but Solomon quietly follows his old acquaintance to a carriage. Patsey watches as Solomon rides away; we know she’ll probably never escape her horrible life. When Solomon returned to his family, I felt the tears coming. There was a big “whoa” from the audience. His daughter is married with a baby son. Solomon’s son is taller than him now. Solomon is overcome with emotion, realizing how much he missed (it was stolen from him). He bows his head, cries, and says “forgive me for my lateness.” His wife quietly replies, “There is nothing to forgive.” He survived- that was his heroic act.
Director Steve McQueen and his cast
Ejiofor (if you don’t know his work already) will steal your heart in this movie. His large, expressive eyes say it all, even when Solomon has to swallow his pride (being a free man) and stay silent. When he tries to run away, but runs smack into a lynching in progress, it’s just so heartbreaking! There is nothing showy or overdone- he simply inhabits the character. At one (silent) point, he looks directly into the camera, as if to say “Yes, this really happened.” Fassbender, who has worked with McQueen on several other films, creates a crazed, obsessed, alcoholic- a very compelling villain.
The cinematography is also very effective- we see the brutality of slave life in the (often) gorgeous environment. The director takes some risks, but they pay off. Nudity is used, not to titillate, but to point out the powerlessness of enslaved black bodies. Long takes show us the seriousness of the topic- no romanticizing here. The bloody whipping scene involving Epps, Patsey, and Solomon will stay in your mind for a long time.
This is an above average rom-com, starring Tina Fey (who doesn’t love her!?) and Paul Rudd (ditto), but w/ some unexpected twists and some smart/funny dialogue. The young characters performed pretty well, I thought. It was cool to see Michael Sheen (has own Showtime series now) and Gloria Reuben (ER), who plays Fey’s rival co-worker, after a long time!
The Butler
Director Lee Daniels said that he envisioned this film (based on a true story) primarily as “a love story between a father and son.” Forest Whitaker, who plays apolitical/humble/hard-working butler Cecil Gaines, is flawless (as usual). Oprah has an unique air/look about her (in the role of bored/troubled housewife); she does a good job. English actor David Oyelow0 does a fine job as Louis, the older son in the family, who becomes immersed in Civil Rights movement after going off to college. Louis’ strand of the story is the most interesting part of the film. It’s a good film, but not great (as several viewers agreed). It didn’t evoke much emotion from me, aside from the shocking early tragedy and the lunch counter/protest scenes. Something (intangible) is missing!
Diana (NOW PLAYING)
It’s refreshing to see a South Asian man, English actor Naveen Andrews (who plays Dr. Hasnat Khan, a brilliant Pakistani surgeon/PhD student), on the big screen. And portrayed as a love interest to Naomi Watts (Diana, Princess of Wales)- pretty neat, right? No, sadly, this film is a bore. Maybe it’s the pedestrian dialogue? Or the slow pacing? It looks like a TV movie, as one journalist and many viewers commented. Watts gets Diana’s mannerisms and girlish vulnerability right, but she has little else to work with here. What a waste of talent!
Django Unchained
Oh, it’s well produced, filmed and edited. But that can’t save the totally bizarre banality of the story and the plot – never mind the gratuitous violence.
Exactly- the (bloody/brutal) wrestling scene between the two men in Candie’s private club was almost too much to take!
I thought DiCaprio and Waltz were brilliant, but brilliant performances can’t save a bad film.
Christoph Waltz did a fine job (as in Inglourious Basterds). It’s a difficult task to act in one’s second language, also. And DiCaprio gets better with age.
I liked the father/son symbolism when Schultz told Django the Brunhilde Story. It was tender and touching…
Django wasn’t the hero- Dr. Schultz was, I was surprised to discover. Tarantino’s direction/writing and Foxx’s acting turned the lead man into the sidekick. Oops!
What was that scene with the masked vigilantes even there for? The scene was a complete waste if footage… comic relief that fell flat on its face.
There is not much to laugh at in this disjointed film. If you can’t deal respectfully with a topic like slavery… I don’t know what to say. And talk about self-indulgent- Tarantino has a distracting cameo and the film clocks in close to 3 hours!
Candie is fascinated by Django, and sees in him, possibly, the ability and will to do what Old Ben could not. Django can see that Candie is captivated, even when Schultz cannot. The change that Django represents is not the kind of change that Candie will accept.
One journalist wrote that the “love story in the film is between Django and Candie,” not his wife (played by Kerry Washington, star of Scandal). Kerry’s fans won’t have much to applaud- Broomhilda is merely a damsel in distress in the film. What a waste of a multi-faceted actress!
Knightleyemma 