Nothing but a Man.

Review #2182: Nothing but a Man.

Cast: 

Ivan Dixon (Duff Anderson), Abbey Lincoln (Josie Dawson), Julius Harris (Will Anderson), Gloria Foster (Lee), Yaphet Kotto (Jocko), Leonard Parker (Frankie), Stanley Green (Reverend Dawson), Eugene Wood (Johnson), Helen Lounck (Effie Simms), Gertrude Jeannette (Mrs. Dawson), Tom Ligon (Teenager), and William Jordan (Teenager) Directed by Michael Roemer.

Review: 

"I recognized everything. It was immediate. I said, 'Oh, I know this. I know what this feels like.''

Independent films don't always get a fair rap. But history does lend some credit to those that really did make an effort to make something worthwhile. This film was released 60 years ago this year as a fairly naturalistic feature that only made a profit upon a re-release in the 1990s. The film was written by Michael Roemer and Robert M. Young, who also produced the film with Robert Rubin (Young served as cinematographer). Born into a Jewish family in Germany, he had been sent to a Bunce Court School (a boarding school) in England in 1939 by the Kindertransport. After time spent in Bunce Court School in England, he moved to the States in time to attend at college at Harvard University, where he graduated with a degree after doing a bit of filmmaking and also met Young, a good friend of his. Roemer worked with Louis de Rochemont for a number of years in production management along with making a handful of educational films. Young and Roemer got together first to do a documentary called Cortile Cascino that would've been shown on NBC in 1962. It was a film meant to show the lives of people living in a slum (Palermitano) in Palermo, Italy, but the footage was thought of as not suitable for TV. The basis for what became this film was shaped in part by Roemer's upbringing (such as his relationship with his father) along with travels spent with Young for a few months in the American South. The film was shot in New Jersey on a budget over $200,000 as a film where "the most powerful, useful political statement would be a human one" with a handful of music from the Motown label. Lincoln was a singer (with one appearance in film as herself in The Girl Can't Help It) and Harris was a male nurse making his film debut.  Roemer's next film in The Plot Against Harry (1969) couldn't find a distributor because of its perceived failure in comedy before 1989 saw attention given to it at the New York Film Festival. Roemer had shot other documentaries as well, such as Dying, which was from the point of view of those near death. As late as his eighties (Roemer still lives, now 96!), he was a professor at Yale. A television film of his in Haunted (1984) was re-released in theaters as Vengeance is Mine in 2022.

The heart of the film is the timeless quality that comes in hard-edged honesty for 95 minutes. It is a sensitive film that doesn't rely on easy piety or easy outs when it comes to the simple story of how the shadow of life under the grip of prejudice and pre-conceived ideas of what one seems to be can wreak havoc on trying to live at all. The illusion of being free is a hard one to see get stripped away from oneself, whether that involves that illusion of being free in their job or one's love having an illusion of freedom from nasty words or complications. In other words: life is hard, and it is going to stay hard regardless of if you have someone there with you or not, but you just have to face the wind and roll with whatever is there to blow against you. Dixon was evidently proud of his lead performance here (released the year before having a long-running role on Hogan's Heroes and becoming a director himself), and it is easy to see why. He has a smoldering honesty that commands the screen in a way that is easily recognizable for those who have ever experienced some kind of misfortune when it comes to perceptions or in a personal matter. He sees Lincoln and goes from thinking of her as one of just desire to of equals when it comes to not just being a background face in the crowd. His frustrations are our frustrations in a way that draws the viewer to think about within our lives when it comes to what one is and is not in the scheme of things (be it stubborn, proud, or otherwise). The sequence of him seeing his son toil as one away from his parent (and accompanying words of why one hasn't made more of the effort) makes it clear of what one has here in those vulnerabilities and hazards to think about. Lincoln is the tender one that makes a worthwhile pairing with Dixon in whirlwind curiosity and accompanying vulnerability. Harris is the key in shaping the film for such a carefully handled amount of time, a smoldering heap on the last legs of a type of person with unyielding tension that makes one wonder how one really could be that good in their first acting role that quickly.  (Dixon was the most experienced of the main cast, as Foster had her debut in 1964 with The Cool World and this). As a whole, the movie ends on its own terms for one's own imagination when it comes to what it means in the idea of feeling so free and where the road can take them. It plays well for now among curious viewers looking for indie films because it is a story we can all look to in tender natural amazement and smile in its imperfect dealing with a imperfect world.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

The Matrix.

Review #1272: The Matrix.

Cast: 
Keanu Reeves (Thomas A. Anderson / Neo), Laurence Fishburne (Morpheus), Carrie-Anne Moss (Trinity), Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith), Joe Pantoliano (Cypher), Marcus Chong (Tank), Anthony Ray Parker (Dozer), Julian Arahanga (Apoc), Matt Doran (Mouse), Gloria Foster (The Oracle), and Belinda McClory (Switch) Directed by The Wachowskis.

Review: 
One wonders how a film likes this has endured for two decades. The answers may differ slightly from person to person, but it is likely the entertainment value alongside a fairly developed philosophical core that stays on a steady path for most of its 136 minute run-time. How many directors have their main cast read works such as "Simulacra and Simulation" by Jean Baudrillard? One can't fault the Wachowskis for being ambitious with their story ideas, but credit also must go to others such as Yuen Woo-ping for coordinating the fight scenes or the visual effects headlined by John Gaeta (most notably with the bullet time parts). It has plenty of style and just enough substance to not collapse under its own weight, which would've happened under lesser hands or interference over the intended vision of a sci-fi action film that has its own voice involving a dystopia. Looking at the rooftop sequence for the beginning is certainly interesting, one for the way it grabs the viewer but also because the scene is one that uses sets from Dark City (1998) - bad movies sometimes makes you want to pick other movies instead, but sometimes good ones help inspire interest for additional ones too, I suppose. Maybe it isn't as great as something like Blade Runner (1982) or The Terminator (1984), but it belongs up there as something worthy to be watched alongside those kind of films without needing to defend it so heavily, where expectations for a first time viewer can be moderately high without being obnoxious.

The characters don't seem as developed as they likely should be (name one defining characteristic of the supporting cast-mates), but at least the actors don't squander their time by looking completely vacant. One can barely even see the seeds of a romance between Reeves and Moss (maybe they just bond over blank stares over "lunch" or something). For all that can be made fun of the film with its philosophy at times, at least one can give credit to Fishburne for keeping to his convictions and selling this whole-handily. Reeves generally goes through the motions with an oddball plot, but at least he seems ready to engage with the film without being too dull or too quippy with what is meant to be an interesting journey. The what-ifs for this film certainly are interesting - Will Smith was a potential choice for Neo before he turned it down (for Wild Wild West, but also because he didn't feel he was mature enough for it), but one noted choice for Morpheus was Val Kilmer. Moss does fine with handling herself when it comes to the action (such as the noted beginning, although the second half doesn't leave her too much to go with, for better or worse. Weaving is pretty involving as the non-generic AI program adversary, seeming like a mirror to Reeves that works out pretty well. Pantoliano does pretty good with a slick role that always proves watchable when needed. The film sure knows when to have an action sequence, or show off an interesting effect or two, and while it may take over the film for its climax to where the philosophy it taking a break, at least things do not end up crashing down by the time it reaches its endgame. One retains interest in seeing more from this interesting world and what can happen next, which did happen with two sequels released four years later. It may prove to be an experience for the viewer in more ways than one if it reaches its high points, but even when it seems like it wants to collapse, there is enough conviction and craftsmanship to make the whole thing worth it.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.