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THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS
November 11, 2021 - November 17, 2021 • 15
Arts & Entertainment Film/TV page 15 | Books page 17 | Food page 20 | Jazz page 21
Pg. 18 Your Stars
‘Passing’ brings Harlem in the ’20s to Netflix By LAPACAZO SANDOVAL Special to the AmNews Harlem has never looked so beautiful as it does in “Passing,” the new film directed by Rebecca Hall based on Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel. The film begins in the sweltering heat of a brutally hot, Prohibition-era summer. Most people of color understand without an explanation what “passing” means. And I suspect most white people don’t ponder it much since the color of their skin slides them into a box marked—so clearly— “Privileged.” Just so that we can all be on the same uncomfortable page, “Passing” (Netflix) “passing” is being of African American heritage, but so fair of skin and hood friend from Chicago, now unrecother features that the person can easily ognizably glamorous and very white, “pass” as white. with blonde hair, arched, lightened The film is shot in black and white; brows, and passing as a white woman. Hall (a first-time filmmaker) adds a delThere is something beautiful about icate touch. the crackle in the air. The tension rises As it happens, this sweltering fast and hard between their silencsummer day will impact Irene’s life es. Irene’s anxiety peeks as this strange (Tessa Thompson) forever. She’s down- white woman begins to press her. Finaltown on an errand to purchase a toy ly, it registers that this isn’t a white woman for her son, in a store filled with white at all, it’s her old friend and more to the people, and she’s visibly uncomfort- point, her old African American childable wearing a big sun hat with a veil. hood friend. Hiding under the hat no one noticNegga as the tragically drawn Clare es her but when she arrives at a fancy commands attention and draws stares hotel to escape the unforgiving sun in every room she enters. someone spots her dead on, and that To Irene’s surprise, Clare has been someone is Clare (Ruth Negga), a child- passing as white for years and, to push
the tension even higher, she’s married to a racist John (Alexander Skarsgard), a white man who believes that he’s married to a white woman. He’s also the father of her child. But meeting Irene again tears open her closed doors and Clare can’t help being drawn to her Blackness like a moth to the flame. So, behind John’s back, Clare begins to insert herself into Irene’s life and that includes flirting with her doctor husband, Brian (Andre Holland), and showing up at the couple’s handsome Harlem brownstone without an invitation. Did that white privilege rub off on her? Clare is envious of Irene’s stability. Envious that she’s not living her life as a lie.
Envious of her bold Blackness. The story moves along like a jazz song with jazz-piano trills provided by Devonté Hynes score and set to the lush blackand-white photography courtesy of DP Edu Grau. Story-wise, not much happens. I’d offer that “Passing” is a series of moments held together by the beautiful cinematography and strong performances. “Passing” is Irene’s story, with Clare just a new diversion. It’s almost like we are living inside her head. Irene is as flawed and miserable as Clare. Irene’s as caught as Clare is caught, but by different circumstances. For example, the way Irene treats her African American housekeeper Zulena (Ashley Ware Jenkins) makes you wonder if she has those “I am better than you” moments. This relationship also brings more dramatic tension without anyone raising their voices. “Passing” also touches on feeling like a victim (real or imagined) and it asks the question (without asking the question outright) what would my freedom be like, really, in a world that hates me just because of the color of my skin. Clare breaks down the reason she chooses to hide in the first act. It’s all about money and she wants that with the social status, and she’s willing to suppress her very DNA to get it. “All things considered, it’s worth the price,” she declares. Is it?
‘The Harder They Fall’ brings life back to westerns
By LAPACAZO SANDOVAL 0 Special to the AmNews s e Jeymes Samuel (“They Die by Dawn”) y has shaken up the western genre with f “The Harder They Fall” giving it a kind of rhythm that makes sense since Samuel is k a musician-turned-director. s Perhaps Samuel’s a conductor as well o because he assembled a perfect cast, all - of them (each, and everyone) breathing n life into some of the most interesting and - notorious outlaws ever to ride the West. s And since this is a revenge story, having r that classic good versus evil is a fun ride. l I don’t believe that Hollywood will - ever reach equality as it relates to race. - I strongly believe that they step into die versity only because it impacts their profit margin. And the western genre has always been populated by charac- ters that are white, straight, and physically and mentally groomed to tackle the
introduced to the stylish outlaw-revenge story under Samuel’s sturdy hand. It’s exciting to inhale the way he opens the film—he makes it clear that “These. People. Existed.”—as expressed in white letters punched through a black screen. Bam, do you get it? Now, this isn’t a fantasy Western. These characters are based on the lives of people that lived, real-life African American, Afro-Indigenous cowboys, including Nat Love (Jonathan Majors), Stagecoach Mary (Zazie Beets), and Cherokee Bill (LaKeith Stan“The Harder They Fall” (Netflix) field). wildness of nature. in these genres and we understand the The story takes place after the Civil And where are women in these past impact of the lack of diversity. This is how War and the end of slavery. The gang arwestern films? Much like real life, they entire generations were exposed to the rives at an all-white town and the sight are sidelined, relegated to the lowest rank inaccurate representations of our past. of these African Americans makes the possible. Now search for women of color Fast-forward to 2020/2021 and we are See THTF on page 19
