A Raisin in the Sun (USA, 1961, Daniel Petrie)
After a successful run on Broadway, A Raisin in the Sun came to film in 1961, offering a snapshot of an urban, working-class, African-American family at a turning point in their lives. The film powerfully conveys the inter-familial and inter-generational conflicts that arise out of different hopes, dreams, and ambitions.
Lorraine Hansberry's award-winning play is the source material for the film, set in the 1940s, but filmed just as America was beginning its civil rights movement. Sidney Poitier's Walter Lee is the film's ambitious hope, struggling mightily to escape his empoverished, ghetto-ized existence through hard work and acumen, but finding the world an unwelcoming and confining place. The film draws its intelligent dialogue from the complex questions facing a racial minority in an environment in which the effects of prejudice are always percolating just beneath the surface. An unexpected windfall throws the family into confusion and disarray, as competing interests and a hostile world conspire to make decisions for the beneficiaries extremely challenging.
The cramped and claustrophobic apartment setting reminds us of the film's theatrical roots, but it also serves the movie's themes well, and director Daniel Petrie keeps the camera moving, even if the setting and action are static. The issue of racism is handled relatively subtly, quietly insinuating itself into the situation rather than slamming you in the face. There is some unevenness in the performances, as some of the actors from the stage production still seem to be projecting to the back row of the theater, but Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee lead the cast with their charismatic presences.
Directed in rather pedestrian fashion by Daniel Petrie, the story is powerful enough to rise above such limitations. A Raisin in the Sun astutely examines such serious generational and racial issues as assimilation and the conflicts between idealism, the pursuit of the American dream, and pride in one's racial and cultural heritage.

Feb
5
David Byrnes' American Utopia (Spike Lee, 2020, USA)
Ben Livant says:
James Brown meets the Blue Man Group as conducted by the love child of Mr. Spock and a king's jester.
I suppose the best way to praise this live music/dance/theatre performance-cinema is to state that it is legitimate to compare it to Stop Making Sense. It's not as good, of course, but it is still goddamn great!
And the excellence is not just due to nostalgia. Or if nostalgia is a prominent factor, it is not restricted to our generation's fans of Talking Heads. It pertains far and wide to pre-pandemic days, when this show was a hit on Broadway, with people still able to congregate in the building and bounce together in the aisles, not at all six feet apart.
Ben Livant says:
James Brown meets the Blue Man Group as conducted by the love child of Mr. Spock and a king's jester.
I suppose the best way to praise this live music/dance/theatre performance-cinema is to state that it is legitimate to compare it to Stop Making Sense. It's not as good, of course, but it is still goddamn great!
And the excellence is not just due to nostalgia. Or if nostalgia is a prominent factor, it is not restricted to our generation's fans of Talking Heads. It pertains far and wide to pre-pandemic days, when this show was a hit on Broadway, with people still able to congregate in the building and bounce together in the aisles, not at all six feet apart.
Mar
12
Gunda (USA/Russia, 2020, Viktor Kosakovskiy)
Ben Livant:
[1] Farm noir. Definitely on the level, though, ground level Bub, no Dutch angle about it The cows were too cowed to corroborate the crime, but the trip to the prison paid off anyway because one of the rosters crowed. That's what happens, sister! Hobble a cock and he'll squawk. That's the price for leaving him only one leg to walk. Guy's just lucky that murder most foul wasn't murder most fowl.
Ben Livant:
[1] Farm noir. Definitely on the level, though, ground level Bub, no Dutch angle about it The cows were too cowed to corroborate the crime, but the trip to the prison paid off anyway because one of the rosters crowed. That's what happens, sister! Hobble a cock and he'll squawk. That's the price for leaving him only one leg to walk. Guy's just lucky that murder most foul wasn't murder most fowl.
Mar
12
New Order (Mexico, 2020, Michel Franco)
Ben Livant:
Given our conversation beforehand, I misunderstood the scale of the situation. I thought the dramatic setting was strictly within the confines of a single private dwelling. After you told me that the servants rebel, I confirmed my (incorrect) understanding that the focus was within "the feudal manor;" again, on a solitary estate.
Ben Livant:
Given our conversation beforehand, I misunderstood the scale of the situation. I thought the dramatic setting was strictly within the confines of a single private dwelling. After you told me that the servants rebel, I confirmed my (incorrect) understanding that the focus was within "the feudal manor;" again, on a solitary estate.
Mar
12
Black Bear (USA, Lawrence Michael Levine, 2020)
Ben Livant begins:
A bit of a head scratcher. I mean, in a very sweeping sort of way, I can take away that the exercise is a study in personal falsehood in the circumstance of professional (Part 2) or wannabe professional (Part 1) artistic creativity. You know, fabricating fiction as a vocation comes with its own occupational hazards.
Ben Livant begins:
A bit of a head scratcher. I mean, in a very sweeping sort of way, I can take away that the exercise is a study in personal falsehood in the circumstance of professional (Part 2) or wannabe professional (Part 1) artistic creativity. You know, fabricating fiction as a vocation comes with its own occupational hazards.
Mar
3
Family Obligations (Kenneth R. Frank, USA, 2019)
Variations on a theme: You can ghost your friends, but you can't disappear your family. Alternatively:
Everywhere you go, there they are. Family. Can't live with them, can't stuff them in a sack and throw them
in a river. Despite some technical struggles, Kenneth R.
Variations on a theme: You can ghost your friends, but you can't disappear your family. Alternatively:
Everywhere you go, there they are. Family. Can't live with them, can't stuff them in a sack and throw them
in a river. Despite some technical struggles, Kenneth R.
Dec
27
Chameleon (Marcus Mizelle, USA, 2019)
Drawing on the conventions of crime/thriller genre, and deploying enough nifty plot shifts to keep the audience on its toes, Chameleon keeps us guessing until the final frame. In spite of its shoestring budget, the film has top end production values, and compelling performances from each of its leads. Chameleon is a fine piece of entertainment.
Drawing on the conventions of crime/thriller genre, and deploying enough nifty plot shifts to keep the audience on its toes, Chameleon keeps us guessing until the final frame. In spite of its shoestring budget, the film has top end production values, and compelling performances from each of its leads. Chameleon is a fine piece of entertainment.
Dec
23
Trauma Therapy (Tyler Graham Pavey, USA, 2019)
Trauma Therapy is a purported thriller wherein four people of various levels of dysfunction agree to spend a weekend with oh so cutely-named Tovin Maven, a self-help maven, in a remote cabin deep in the nameless woods.
Trauma Therapy is a purported thriller wherein four people of various levels of dysfunction agree to spend a weekend with oh so cutely-named Tovin Maven, a self-help maven, in a remote cabin deep in the nameless woods.
Nov
4
Anya (Okada and Taylor, USA, 2019)
On its surface, Anya is about that most topical of contemporary issues, genetic modification. Often films that engage that "ripped from the headlines" scenario have a sensationalist bent, as they are as much exploiting the issue as they are illuminating it.
Thankfully, Anya is not one of those films. Rather, Anya is a thoughtful and nuanced exploration of a complex and provocative contemporary issue.
On its surface, Anya is about that most topical of contemporary issues, genetic modification. Often films that engage that "ripped from the headlines" scenario have a sensationalist bent, as they are as much exploiting the issue as they are illuminating it.
Thankfully, Anya is not one of those films. Rather, Anya is a thoughtful and nuanced exploration of a complex and provocative contemporary issue.
Oct
21
Sunday Girl (USA, Peter Ambrosio, 2019)
At once familiar and refreshingly adept, Sunday Girl is a self-aware and clever examination of a day in the life of a young woman trying to get her romantic life back in order.
Natasha is at an important crossroads in her life. She is dating five men, but decides she wants to commit to only one, George (Brandon Stacy) so she embarks upon a one day mission to break up with the other four.
At once familiar and refreshingly adept, Sunday Girl is a self-aware and clever examination of a day in the life of a young woman trying to get her romantic life back in order.
Natasha is at an important crossroads in her life. She is dating five men, but decides she wants to commit to only one, George (Brandon Stacy) so she embarks upon a one day mission to break up with the other four.
Sep
10
Human Capital
Human Capital (Marc Meyers, USA, 2019)
Mainstream films in America often struggle when it comes to portraying class divides, not because it is hard to do so, but because those in charge of getting films seen are loath to honestly examine how for most people the American dream is a total nightmare. They have determined that social truths that run counter to the Horatio Alger mythology are a real downer and won't put butts in the seats.
Mainstream films in America often struggle when it comes to portraying class divides, not because it is hard to do so, but because those in charge of getting films seen are loath to honestly examine how for most people the American dream is a total nightmare. They have determined that social truths that run counter to the Horatio Alger mythology are a real downer and won't put butts in the seats.