Author_Poet_Aberjhani Reviews

Vincent & Theo (1990)

Vincent and Theo: Brotherly Love of the Intense Kind

[10/10 · 25 July 2008]

I have one favorite scene in the film VINCENT AND THEO, the late Robert Altman's highly acclaimed masterwork on the life of Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh. It is a short brutal scene in the first half of the movie when Van Gogh's model and mistress is leaving him: she slaps him witless, and then kisses him hard on the mouth before storming out of the apartment.

That double action of pained frustration and loving adoration seems a sad but accurate metaphor for the entire film and possibly for Van Gogh himself. Whereas life bestowed upon him a bliss-filled kiss of exceptional artistic and spiritual vision, the hand of fate slapped him so hard that he was robbed of any lasting personal joy that might have come from this great gift.

Van Gogh (in the film played brilliantly by Tim Roth) is one of those creative geniuses of history whose life story continues to haunt and inform us from one century to the next. The question is "Why?" Could it be because the beauty and evidence of that genius continues to increase with time and therefore makes us wonder about the cultural values and "personalities" we tend to either champion or malign in modern days? That it definitely does increase can be measured in one sense by the millions of dollars for which this eighteenth century impressionist artist's paintings now sell.

The whole point of Altman's film seems to be to illustrate how Vincent's genius found refuge for a while in his brother Theo's love. It is well known that even though Theo (who is played with mesmerizing neurotic precision by Paul Rhys) was a relatively successful art dealer, he was unable to manipulate the market to his brother's advantage. That did not, however, stop him from financially supporting him throughout his short adult life as a painter. Altman makes that point clear enough when Theo informs his brother that the money Vincent thought their father had been sending him had in fact been provided by Theo. Rather than belaboring this aspect of their relationship, director Altman moves his camera back and forth between scenes that show us how very much alike, and yet simultaneously different, Vincent and Theo were in their thwarted pursuits of a triumphant life.

As Theo eagerly courted "respectable ladies," Vincent just as eagerly enjoyed women of a certain profession. Whereas Vincent yearned to prove himself an artist worthy of the name, Theo yearned to prove himself a businessman worthy of prominence and prosperity. Vincent's descent into madness manifests more tangibly because it takes on the more graphically visual qualities associated with art itself: we see him court and then violently alienate the attentions of his equally genius friend Paul Gauguin; watch him stick knives menacingly in his mouth, cut off his earlobe, meekly endure his stay in an asylum, stand in a sunlit field where he has been painting black birds and calmly shoot himself. All the while, some of the most celebrated canvases in art history, depicting a virtual of ecstasy of sunflowers, starry nights, and golden wheat fields, rapidly pile up.

Theo is actually able to resist the powerful tug of debilitating madness until after his brother succumbs to it. That he does fall prey to it is tragically ironic because despite the syphilis that mars his happiness, he achieves some measure of the "ideal life" with a wife, new baby, and modest advancement in his career. He therefore appears to have all the motivation necessary to sustain a stable existence. But when he places all of Vincent's work (after the artist's death) in a suite of rooms for an exhibit, he screams at his wife that "This is the most important thing in my life!" and forces her to leave. It would seem at that point that he not only loved Vincent and believed deeply in his talent, but was in fact a kind of extension of him, and vice versa. The loss of Vincent on July 29, 1890, at the age of only 37, triggered in Theo a mental and physical collapse. He died less than a year later on January 25, 1891, at the age of 33.

This 1990 movie (released on DVD in 2005) is 138 minutes long so no one can claim it's too short. I only wish Altman had included somewhere in it the story of how––after studying for the ministry and before he became a painter––Vincent spent forty days nursing back to health a miner who had been injured in an explosion and whom doctors had expected to die. The miner's recovery was described as a miracle and, from the scars left on his face, Van Gogh experienced a vision of the wounds that Christ suffered from the crown of thorns placed on his head. Some allusion to this may have added greater understanding to the intense spiritual impulses that drove Van Gogh's devotion to his art and helped clarify what he hoped to communicate through it. Even so, the film as it stands is itself a remarkable painting of two extraordinary brothers who shared one profound and astonishing destiny.

by Author-Poet Aberjhani

author of ELEMENTAL, The Power of Illuminated Love

and Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)

An Inspired Wonder Called "The Diving Bell and The Butterfly"

[10/10 · 4 May 2008]

After reading the former French Elle Magazine editor Jean-Dominique Bauby's memoir, THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY, when it was first published in 1997, I couldn't help wondering if it would be possible for anyone to make a decent movie out of it. After watching the film directed by Julian Schnabel, with a screenplay by Ronald Howard, I was awestruck to acknowledge that not only had they made a decent film, but a gorgeous and phenomenal one.

It makes sense that The Diving Bell and the Butterfly should shine on the big screen like the huge glowing miracle that it is because the fact that Bauby even "wrote" his book at all was itself nothing less than a king-sized miracle. A major stroke in his brain stem left him paralyzed with locked-in syndrome, a condition in which he was fully conscious but unable to move any part of his body except his left eye.

Whereas the shock of finding oneself in such a torturous state might have caused many to shut down completely, Bauby rose to the occasion within himself by the sheer power of will, spirit, and the loving compassion of others. His body, he noted, may have become like a heavy diving suit that weighed him down, but his mind became freedom personified, like a butterfly that floats at will through realms of intellect, memory, and imagination. Harnessing the resources at hand, he learned to dictate by indicating individual letters with the blink of an eye and managed to compose a small masterpiece

Actor and director Mathieu Amalric plays Bauby with deeply attractive humanity. Viewers first meet him from inside his head, so to speak, as he begins to regain consciousness and doctors gather to explain what has happened. Once the unsettling fact of his paralysis is painfully established, we move with the stream of Bauby's consciousness back and forth through scenes of high-energy photo shoots at Elle Magazine, memories of shaving his father, the complications of a love affair, and fantasies of intimate encounters with his lovely female therapists.

A particularly powerful element within this movie is the portrayal of Bauby's existential stubbornness. Ironically enough, prior to his stroke, he becomes angry with his lover when she insists they visit Lourdes, a place where divine healings reportedly often takes place. Still later, when in a wheelchair, a priest offers him communion and he signals to his therapist with a blink of his eye that he does not want it. Comically, his therapist ignores this and tells the priest he does. It is this determination to guard his sense of individual humanity that makes Bauby beautifully heroic, even though he would not describe himself as such.

Actress Emmanuelle Seigner plays Bauby's estranged wife Celine with subtle intensity and one marvels at the quiet dignity she brings to the part. Equally engaging in their supporting roles are Max Von Sydow as Bauby's father; Marie-Josée Croze as the therapist who teaches him to communicate with blinks of a single eye; and Isaach De Bankole as his visiting friend Laurent.

Both as a book and as a film, The Diving Bell and The Butterfly is largely about the perspectives that we choose to apply to our lives. Though he suffered one of the worse fates imaginable, Bauby chose to believe his life was still a meaningful one and worked to produce a celebrated book that was published just 10 days before he died. Julian Schnabel's film is a work of cinematic poetry that honors both the man and the work through the very means that Bauby employed to live his final days: penetrating intelligence, inspired compassion, and luminous imagination.

by Author-Poet Aberjhani, author of The American Poet Who Went Home Again, and Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance

Stomp the Yard (2007)

"Stomp the Yard" A Film of Life-Affirming Power and Beauty

[10/10 · 18 April 2008]

Director Sylvain White's STOMP THE YARD may not strike many as an ideal movie for the family to gather around and watch during holidays or other special occasions but it actually is because holidays are about reaping the benefits of tradition and this movie is about that too. It's not so clear at the film's beginning whether we're watching a violent video game or a demonstration of directorial genius. The distinction, however, soon becomes obvious and the genius apparent.

The mesmerizing opening dance scenes come across a lot like video gladiator battle sequences. These give way to the urban realism of a more brutal ––and fatal–– L.A. gang clash after the not-so-lethal dance battle. DJ, played pitch perfectly by Columbus Short, loses his brother Duron (singer Chris Brown does an impressive job in this role) to a bullet in the clash and life as DJ knows it then comes to a screeching halt.

After a brief time in jail, he leaves the West Coast for Georgia, where he moves in with his aunt and uncle, then enrolls in college. It seems like the perfect strategy for rebuilding your life but DJ has problems with the idea that he's living his brother's dream of going to college and that his own is not all that definite. Perhaps among the most under-appreciated gifted actors of his generation, Harry Lennix gives one of the strongest performances of his career as the no-nonsense-taking uncle who pulls DJ out of his self-pitying funk. Their relationship proves to be one of tough-love and mutual respect. It also provides a rare glimpse into how black male relatives often function as surrogate fathers to youth whose biological fathers for whatever reason are nowhere to be seen.

The move from West Coast to Georgia might appear coincidental but in fact it is crucial to this film because DJ's move takes him out of a region of the country where historically black institutions like Clark University and Tuskegee Institute do not exist, and into one where their presence and legacy remains strong. The move to Georgia turns into an inner journey to his ancestral beginnings where ultimately he discovers the strength and integrity needed to cope with the grief over his brother's death and move forward with a vision for his own life.

Once he becomes a student at Truth University, DJ initially demonstrates the same kind of arrogance and self-absorption that got him into conflicts back in L.A. But he also discovers the world of stepping, both a new form of dance for him and a cultural tradition going back to the establishment of the first black Greek Letter fraternities and sororities in the early 1900s during the Harlem Renaissance. He becomes determined to help his chosen fraternity, Theta Nu Theta, end a seven-year long losing streak against their rivals Mu Gamma Xi, and to win the heart of co-ed April Palmer (played beautifully by Megan Good). His efforts take him through an inspiring rites of passage during which he learns a great deal about his ancestral legacies and the advantages of sometimes working as part of a team rather than thinking only of himself.

The culminating dance competitions in Stomp the Yard have to be seen to be believed and rank among the best in cinema history. Ultimately, this film is one that stands alongside "You've Been Served," "Drumline," and others that accentuate the life-affirming power and beauty of many African-American college traditions. In the process, it confirms and celebrates that same potential in all human beings.

by Author-Poet Aberjhani, author of The Bridge of Silver Wings and Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance

Gabriel (2007)

Astounding Angels of the Wingless Kind

[8/10 · 9 March 2008]

Are there any who fall, when they fall, quite so hard as angels do? Going by the scenario in Australian director Shane Abbess' extraordinary noir metaphysical drama Gabriel, the answer would have to be a loud "No!" As they battle in human form for control over the middle earth region of Purgatory, where human souls dwell in limbo before descending to hell or ascending to heaven, these angels use the f-word in more ways than one, revel in rebellion and debauchery by the ton, and fire blazing automatics with more deadly intent than a. S.W.A.T. team or gang bangers looped on crack.

And yet the independent film maker's skillful balance between Purgatory mayhem and heavenly transcendence is a finely rendered one. As he drops dreamlike from heaven to non-heaven, the archangel Gabriel ponders the fact that he is on his way to do battle in a spiritual war zone where six fellow archangels have already dared to tread but apparently failed. He is a last chance, hoping to succeed where even the mighty angel-warrior Michael has not.

Newcomer Andy Whitfield does a more than competent job as Gabriel and makes it easy to empathize with his divine anguish as he adjusts to his mortal form, seeks out his wounded angelic comrades, and launches full force into martial arts and handgun combat. Dwayne Stevenson as the manically rebellious Sammael, and one-time mentor of Gabriel, provides a powerful villainous contrast. The film progresses between scenes of healing and reunion, to those of explosive one-on-one clashes reminiscent of the most enthralling gangster-film gun battle sequences. The ending is not only unpredictable in regard to a painful choice that Gabriel makes––it is also for some viewers disturbing and controversial.

Considering the obstacles that Shane Abbess and company had to overcome to make this amazing independent film, you have to give the production team and cast credit for getting it done at all. When looking, however, at the small miracle they achieved while working with so little, it becomes difficult not to imagine how much they might have accomplished working with more.

by Author-Poet Aberjhani, author of "The Bridge of Silver Wings" and "Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance"

Children of Men (2006)

A Thoroughly Chilling Yet Profoundly Inspiring Movie

[10/10 · 21 January 2008]

Frightening movies tend to be scariest when they make us consider the possibility that the movie's fictional story might one day become reality. That's the kind of fear factor we have to confront in this masterpiece called "Children of Men." Because it is set some 20 years in the future, the movie has to be categorized as science fiction or possibly prophetic fiction. But the most science fictional element it contains is its well-known premise that the last child is born in 2009 and we human beings find ourselves approaching almost certain extinction until a miraculous pregnancy occurs in 2027. Everything else in the movie is too plausible for comfort.

Although the P.D. James novel on which this film is based was first published in 1992, it could just as easily have been penned last year to provoke discussions on the current state, and possible fate, of the world as we know it in 2008. Issues such as conflicts over illegal immigration, nuclear war, public anarchy, and overwhelming personal angst dominate this film. Depending on which side of the political and nationalist fence one stands on, these elements may or may not appear to be exaggerated.

Clive Owens as Theo Faron, Claire-Hope Ashitey as Kee, Michael Caine as Jasper, and Julianne Moore as Julian Taylor each portray characters that history seems at first to have tossed aside. Theo, Jasper, and Julian have all seen stronger days as youthful rebels but it is the innocent-yet-not-so-innocent Kee who revitalizes their lives and the world's hope with her phenomenal pregnancy. The term "immaculate" does not apply here. As they struggle and sometimes die to literally keep hope alive, history turns them into incredibly flawed, wounded, and mesmerizing heroes.

Dystopian in its visionary outlook, "Children of Men" contains scenes that are agonizingly ugly followed by scenes that are intoxicatingly beautiful. Those who have read James' novel know that director Alfonso Cuaron took creative liberties with its adaptation to the big screen. Most agree that the liberties taken did the book justice. There are several excellent commentaries on the DVD--one comes from philosopher and social critic Slavoj Zizek, who states: "Only films like this will guarantee that cinema as art will really survive." That's of course if films like this remain fiction and real-life artists like Cuaron survive the chaos of modern times well enough to continue making them.

by Aberjhani, author of "The Bridge of Silver Wings"

Borat (2006)

The World through the Eyes of "Borat" and Sacha Baron Cohen

[10/10 · 20 January 2008]

Chances are this poet was pulling double duty when the English comic Sacha Baron Cohen shot footage of his character 'Borat'� in my hometown of Savannah, Georgia. At the time, several years ago, I was completing the "Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance" while also serving as a caregiver. What do you suppose Mr. Cohen was busy doing? Basically he was serving up his unique brand of cultural satire by walking fully suited, with cameraman in tow, into a shower room full of totally unclothed Savannah Gnats baseball team members. That particular footage wound up on Cohen's 'Da Ali G Show'� DVD, featuring his portrayal of the wanna-be Jamaican Londoner gangsta rapper: Ali G. Since I missed greeting Cohen when he visited my fair city (as well as Atlanta, Charleston, and other southern venues) writing a review of his outrageously iconoclastic movie, 'BORAT, Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,'� seems like a southerly hospitable thing to do to make up for it.

As I watched 'BORAT, Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,'� I squirmed with discomfort, scowled in outrage, and laughed my western civilized butt off. What I didn't understand was why. The answer came later just as I was drifting off to sleep and the following thought popped into my head: Sacha Baron Cohen, as Borat, only appears on the surface to ridicule Women, Jews, and African Americans''and also seems to make light of such serious issues as incest, homophobia, and extreme social retardation. Beneath that hilarious surface he is actually lampooning the real-world bigotry, ignorance, and hypocrisy that pushed the global village into the state of chaos it occupies today. (Please note that Cohen himself is Jewish and often uses his grandmother's praise of his humor as defense for his crude and brazen style of satire.) It is Cohen's gift as a performer that he can project, at the same time, both a relatable sense of vulnerability and an excruciating sense of offensiveness. We can call that genius but we can also call it true to life.

At its ground zero level, this movie is satire of the highest and most deadly kind because it does more than simply exploit subconscious fears and social taboos. It smashes them right in the viewer's face, such as when Borat excuses himself from the dinner table of his genteel white South Carolina hosts only to return with his refuse in a bag. As if that is not enough to freak out this good-old-boy family, he invites a black prostitute (played by the beautiful Luenell) to join them and is promptly evicted from the house along with her.

Or take for an equally scandalous example the now infamous naked wrestling scene with Borat and Azamot (courageously played by Ken Davitian). It would have been enough for most viewers to see the two knock each other out and then watch the movie fade to another scene. But that would have restricted the nude battle royal to the hotel room and our naked clowns would not have been able to literally show their asses in public''as some people tend to do with their clothes on.

Like Monty Python, Peter Sellers, Saturday Night Live alumni, and Richard Pryor before him, Cohen is a master satirist who takes no prisoners. 'Borat'� the character may be an innocent Kazakhstanian abroad in America, but Sacha Baron Cohen the man is clearly a critical observer of humanity intent on exposing the laughable and the painful absurdities of what is supposed to be our civilized technologically-enhanced modern life.

As a writer, one has to admire Cohen's ability to create fascinating characters and build entire movies around them. Borat is only one of three cultural types that he has unleashed utilizing the machinery of Hollywood hype running at full throttle. Although often annoying to the extreme, his Ali G character was appealing enough to help pave the way for the movie Borat to gross some $259 million dollars to date. With that kind of box office power, what's the reaction likely to be when his gay Austrian fashion-critic character of Bruno takes over the big screen? Before answering too quickly, it might be worth considering that Cohen reportedly has already signed a $42.5 million deal with Universal Pictures for the film. Like him or hate him, Cohen has proved himself a committed artist with no intention either of starving or being ignored.

by Aberjhani,author of "Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance"

Candy (2006)

The Bittersweet Taste of Love and Addiction

[8/10 · 20 January 2008]

I watched the movie "Candy" because the description on back of the DVD made me think it might have something significant to say about how poets manage to cultivate their creative gifts in the face of the world's harsh and often unforgiving realities. It was actually more about fueling delusions of escape from those realities through drug addiction and placing more burdens on love than it can sometimes bear.

At the center of this brilliantly artful and emotionally powerful drama are the young hopeful artist named Candy and the would-be poet Dan. Both are emotionally damaged individuals who lead each other through a nightmare maze of drug addiction into a junkie's hell of destitution, prostitution, theft, and death.

The film, based on Luke Davies' novel, does raise some important questions about how much we can or should expect from an individual's capacity for love. The subject is one more and more artists seem to be examining these days. Creative acts of poetry--such as actually writing, performing spoken word, being inspired, etc.--do not make up the core of this extraordinary film. BUT: the soul-numbing angst suffered by the principle characters does build to one dynamic slam of a poem that makes real artistic and spiritual sense out of Candy's and Dan's horrible personal ordeal.

Actress Abbie Cornish absolutely astounds in her portrayal of the title character. The exceptionally gifted Heath Ledger provides yet another off-the-chain performance that demonstrates why he's destined to eventually win the Academy Award that eluded him for "Brokeback Mountain." Other ensemble members, including the phenomenal Oscar-winning Geoffrey Rush, Noni Hazlehurst, and Tony Martin, are never anything less than perfect in their supporting roles.

by Aberjhani, author of "I Made My Boy Out of Poetry"

Curse of the Golden Flower (2006)

A Golden Victory for an Extraordinary Film

[10/10 · 20 January 2008]

So many superlatives can be applied to CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER that it's difficult to assess the movie without sounding totally biased and over the top. Few films have achieved the level of sheer visual beauty as this one with its interior shots of Chinese palace walls and columns illuminated by glowing hues of gold, emerald, and ruby. Few also have managed to weave the threads of so many tangled tortured relationships into such a spellbinding masterpiece of tragedy.

The seductive visual beauty of this film's set and costumes makes a powerful contrast to the deadly schemes and betrayals that motivate the leading characters, members of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 BC). Just as the viewer finds him- or herself starting to feel sorry for one character--for example the Empress who is being tortured by her husband, or the Emperor who has been scandalously betrayed by his wife--it turns out that nobody is 100 percent innocent, not even the youngest of the royal family's three sons. If there's one great exception to the royal family's collective guilt, it would be the second son, Prince Jai, played with nobility and charisma by Chinese pop star Jay Chou. Having proved himself on the battlefield as a worthy contender for the throne, Prince Jai returns home only to find himself agonizingly torn between loyalty to his mother and father. The sacrifice he makes in the end turns out to be the most brutal tragedy of all.

Yun Fat Chow as the Emperor and Gong Li in the role of the Empress give incredible performances as a couple whose love has long died but who remain together for the sake of political convenience. Behind their beautiful clothes, lavish furnishings, and perfectly choreographed movements, the two calmly seek each others' destruction. Yun Fat Chow's and Li's performance are on par with that of the world's best Shakespearean actors and the story of CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER itself can be compared to a combination of "King Lear" and "Oedipus Rex." One begins to truly appreciate the challenges directors face when considering the titanic logistics director Zhang Yimou had to deal with in order to make this film. Imagine the precision of detail and control it took to go, as he does with the movie, from one scene of dozens of beautiful feudal-era women waking and preparing to work in the palace, to another later on of a thousand warriors in gold armor charging against another thousand warriors in metallic black. With its brilliant storyline, glorious production, and extraordinary performances, CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER stands as a major triumph of modern film-making.

by Aberjhani, author of "The Bridge of Silver Wings"

Blood Diamond (2006)

Riveting History and Mesmerizing Film-making

[10/10 · 20 January 2008]

Fascinating history does not always make exciting compelling film but in the case of "Blood Diamond" it does. This is good news in the sense that the movie delivers big time on all levels: fantastic action, intense emotional drama, and provocative political excitement. It is bad news in the sense that viewers can become so caught up in the sheer entertainment qualities of this amazing movie that we forget the brutal truth behind the story.

That the people of Sierra Leone throughout the 1990s were enslaved, raped, mutilated, and driven out of their homeland all for the sake of placing diamonds on the hands of the rich and to finance military chaos in one of the most naturally beautiful places in the world is something we should never forget. Having noted that particular point, it's impossible to deny that both Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou fully earned and deserved their respective Oscar nominations for "Blood Diamond." The overall script takes on a great deal of social and moral responsibility.

In addition to its exposure of the atrocities that have left Sierra Leone a permanently scarred country, "Blood Diamond" also illustrates just how deeply intertwined are the history and the future of Blacks and Whites on the continent of Africa. In a way, the same may be said of the history and future of the relationship between Africa and the world.

by Aberjhani, author of "Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance (Facts on File Library of American History)

The Last King of Scotland (2006)

Shockingly Absurd and Profoundly Brilliant

[10/10 · 20 January 2008]

Anyone who caught Forest Whitaker as jazz great Charlie Parker in the Clint Eastwood directed "Bird" (1988) may easily have found themselves thinking, "Wow, an actor with that kind of genius is bound to win an Oscar one day!" But who could have guessed that it might be for Whitaker's titanic portrayal of the former Ugandan President Idi Amin in the riveting film THE LAST KING OF Scotland? A too-quick assessment of this film might make a viewer think it's one more good movie about a larger-than-life ruler seduced and corrupted by power. A second welcomed study reveals that it's actually a great movie about not one, but two men seduced and corrupted by the lures of power. Idi Amin is definitely one of them but so is the Scottish doctor Nicholas Garrigan, played with wonderful naivety and passion by James McAvoy.

For Idi Amin, as portrayed here, the seduction is irresistible and ultimately self-destructive because of a need to rise above the humiliations of his past and to meet the demands of a changing Africa. Garrigan finds himself seduced by power largely because Amin makes it available to him when he adopts the Scottish native as his personal physician, only to increasingly demand he serve as a top political adviser. Instead of refusing to give advice he's neither informed enough nor trained to provide, Garrigan enjoys being flattered to the point that he boldly has an affair with Kay Amin, the president's wife, played by the stunning Kerry Washington. Consequently, one moment he is embracing Amin as a father figure, and in the next he is suffering the kind of brutal fate no one likes to imagine.

"The Last King of Scotland" swings brilliantly back and forth between shocking absurdity and outright tragedy. It's easy enough to see toward the film's beginning that Amin is a leader with true love for his people. Yet it becomes equally apparent as the film progresses that his private terrors and political wrath are at least as monumental as any love he holds. To blend such a range of psychological extremes with credibility that evokes both outrage and even, at times, empathy, is not a feat that many actors could have pulled off, but lo and behold: Mr. Whitaker did.

News coming out of Uganda during the 1970s invariably presented Amin as a bloodthirsty dictator allowed to run amok with his heinous inclinations unchecked before finally being exiled to Saudi Arabia. "The Last King of Scotland," based on Giles Foden's novel, gives us a more complete portrait of a very complex man and country.

by Aberjhani, author of "Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance"

Ghost Rider (2007)

One Wickedly Hot Movie

[8/10 · 20 January 2008]

The theme of humans selling their souls to the devil in exchange for earthly advantages is a classic one that has never before received quite the spectacular kind of treatment as it does in GHOST RIDER. Anyone who has any doubt that we have entered the golden age of comic book movies can watch this film with complete satisfaction and doubt no more.

Taken for what it is, Ghost Rider as a movie achieves magnificently exactly what the best of the classic comic books achieved with pen and ink and paper. It weaves together challenging human drama, moral dilemma, and super-sized action to create brilliantly mesmerizing stories. As fantastic as the special effects in this movie are, what makes them super extraordinary is that they somehow appear completely natural. A burning talking skull is one thing but a flaming motorcycle that drives up walls and through water is not to be missed.

At the beginning of this movie, viewers may find themselves only intrigued when learning about the age-old legend of the Ghost Rider and some may even dismiss it as boring bullish hype. That changes when we see the young Johnny Blaze discover his stunt-rider father has terminal cancer, then sells his soul to the devil Mephistopheles (played wickedly enough by Peter Fonda) to save him. The only problem is that Mephistopheles, as everybody knows, is a liar, and he saves the senior Blaze's life just long enough to end it in a freak accident. Nevertheless, the deal stands and costs Johnny Blaze, among other things, Roxanne, the love of his life. He matures into a man whose phenomenal success does nothing to prevent him from being haunted by a death wish and the knowledge that he one day will have to give the devil what he promised him.

What Blaze does not know is that his entire being has been infused with the power of hellfire that not only guarantees his soul to the devil but will transform him into the monstrous Ghost Rider. In a twist of hellish fate, Mephistopheles offers him the opportunity to win his soul back if he will help him fight his own son, the incorrigibly malevolent Blackheart (Wes Bentley is that really you?) and his band of renegade angels. The beautiful irony here is that by helping the devil to defeat his rebellious demons, the Ghost Rider discovers the way to best fight his own.

At first thought, Nicolas Cage seems anything but the most likely actor to play Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider. However, to quote a character describing Ghost Rider to the reporter Roxanne: "It was an edge look but he totally pulled it off." So did Eva Mendes, who as Roxanne Simpson demonstrates she's not only ten-star gorgeous but a very capable leading actress. Matt Long and Raquel Alessi get the movie off to a solid start as the younger Blaze and Roxanne. The 62-year-old Sam Elliot is in fine form as the cemetery grounds keeper who turns out to be something much more than that. Have to give kudos as well to director Mark Steven Johnson for placing Elliot in a role that simultaneously pays tribute to the western genre and to the legend of the Ghost Rider.

There is no sympathy for the devil in Ghost Rider because in Johnny Blaze's struggle to achieve heroic integrity by overcoming negative circumstances, naive choices, and personal inner demons, it becomes easy to see one's own struggles to live a life of meaning and substance. Such portrayals are the reason many classic comic books have never been just "funny books." In actuality, the medium as cultivated by Stan Lee, Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, and other pioneers of the art has given us some of the best characters, myths, and stories of modern literature. Anyone looking for proof need only count the number of blockbuster films that have been adapted from comics and graphic novels over the past decade. Ghost Rider is one of the best yet.

by Author-Poet Aberjhani, author of "Christmas When Music Almost Killed the World"

Constellation (2005)

Scars of History Healed by the Power of Love

[10/10 · 20 January 2008]

It is interesting to note that the movie CONSTELLATION was first screened in 2005, just after the Academy Award-winning CRASH. And like "Crash," it provides a penetrating look into how race relations have influenced the American character; but unlike "Crash," it gives much more credit to the role that love has played in developing that character. Director-writer Jordan Walker-Pearlman opens his film with a quote from Jeffery Seaver in which the author observes that between love and death, "Love is more powerful and lasts longer." The film "Constellation" attempts to prove that point by tracing the history of an interracial relationship and its painfully mixed impact upon the lives of the couple involved as well as their family and friends.

Set in Huntsville, Alabama, the movie starts around World War II when a very bold young black woman named Carmel Boxer, played with effecting simplicity by Gabrielle Union, and a young white soldier named Bear, played by Daniel Bess, defy social convention and the law by pursuing a secret romance. With her younger brother Helms Boxer acting as their look-out, they enjoy brief times together hidden by the cover of night; until Carmel decides to visit Bear in broad daylight as his platoon is preparing to deploy. That decision proves devastating when her lover is ordered to walk away from her and board his train, leaving Carmel behind in a room where several white men assault her. We do not see an actual gang rape but the implication is clear enough and so is the bitter aftermath. We come to understand that aftermath some 50 years later shortly following Carmel's death as family members and friends--Black and White--gather to mourn her passing as well as to make some kind of peace between each other.

Veteran actor Billy Dee Williams plays the now mature Helms who, unable and unwilling to cope with his country's racism, has made a life for himself as an artist in Paris. The price of doing so, however, has been the loss of a viable relationship with either of his daughters, and, two apparently failed marriages. Relationship is a key word for this movie because the "Constellation" referred to by the title more than anything else is a constellation, or grouping, of deeply intimate interactions. Relationships between lovers, between a brother and a sister, between friends, between Blacks and Whites, and between the past and the present. Walker-Pearlman weaves these relationships together and explores their human depths with sheer mastery set to a mesmerizing score of America's classical music forms, including jazz, gospel, American classic, folk, and rap. In his vision of America, specifically the U.S., racial antagonism comprises only a fraction of what has bound Blacks and Whites together. They have also been bound by shared culture, history, tragedies, triumphs, and blood.

Plum acting roles are rare for veteran black male actors but that of Helms Boxer is a perfect fit for Williams, who actually is an accomplished visual artist as well as an actor. He finds himself in good company with a constellation of bona fide stars that include: Lesley Ann Warren, Rae Dawn Chong, Clarence Williams III, Hill Harper, and Zoe Saldana.

Recent high profile interracial marriages might lead some to feel that "Constellation" squeezes a bit too much drama out of the subject. But anyone under that impression might consider that the last laws officially barring interracial marriage in the United States were just taken off the books, in the year 2000, in the very state where this movie is set: Alabama. One of the great triumphs of the film is its ability to acknowledge the agony of past prejudices while celebrating the triumphs of family and love in the here and now.

by Author-Poet Aberjhani, author of "Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance" (Facts on File Library of American History)

Trilogia: To livadi pou dakryzei (2004)

Overflows with Images of Cinematic Genius

[10/10 · 20 January 2008]

Fate and History are not presented as flesh and blood characters in this first part of Theodoros Angelopoulos' "Trilogy: The Weeping Meadow," but the presence of each is so tangible that they could be exactly that. The central characters, Alexis and Eleni first meet as children driven together by the destruction of the town of Odessa, Greece, during World War I. As they grow up, their lives take one fateful twist after another, beginning when a teen-aged Eleni gives birth to twin boys. Growing into a young woman, she marries a man old enough to be her grandfather but, at the wedding ceremony's conclusion, abandons him to run off with her elderly groom's son, Alexis, who has grown into a gifted musician.

Eleni's hope is clearly to reclaim her adopted twins and live a life of domestic harmony and loving devotion but the abandoned groom will have none of that as he hounds their every step until he literally drops dead. History also proves an enemy to their happiness. With the coming and passing of the Second World War, the young lovers go through a series of transformations as social outcasts, struggling artists, desperate parents, and political refugees. This spellbinding odyssey takes its greatest toll on Eleni, who loses her husband, twin sons, and sanity to the ravages of twentieth century warfare. She becomes a kind of "Everywoman" of the first half of the twentieth century, an era when countries worldwide repeatedly called men to war while women became casualties of the grief, poverty, and physical destruction left behind.

From its opening scene of Greek refugees from Odessa moving toward a river, to its conclusion, "The Weeping Meadow" floods the screen with some of the most eerily surrealistic images in cinematic history. Were it not for the progression of a precise time-line moving from one World War to another, and providing a solid structure for the overall drama, a viewer might easily get lost drifting along in such haunting images as dead sheep hanging from the branches of a tree, a funeral service conducted in row boats alongside rooftops, or a crowd of wailing women running toward a field of dead "husbands, sons, and brothers." The images take on even greater intensity framed by composer Eleni Karaindrou's brilliant soundtrack.

That this first part of Theo Angelopoulos' Trilogy is an indisputable masterpiece is a fact that speaks for itself. The only question is whether the great director will be able to achieve in parts two and three the same sweeping grandeur and majesty that fills every frame of "The Weeping Meadow." by Author-Poet Aberjhani, author of "Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance"

The Fountain (2006)

A Visually Symphonic Work of Metaphysical Poetry

[10/10 · 20 January 2008]

The polycentric structure of THE FOUNTAIN is bound to make it a difficult film for some viewers, an intriguing one for others, and an irresistibly fantastic one for even more viewers. Those who stretch their senses beyond the movie's leaps between the past, present, and future time periods, and who allow themselves to flow along with director Darren Aronofsky's brilliant stream of consciousness discover one amazingly beautiful film.

Among the reasons that some have found The Fountain more disorienting than entertaining is because most of the scenes are shot in shadowy environments with concentrations of light shining like a promised revelation at a distance. This same implied promise of revelation, along with composer Clint Mansell's hauntingly gorgeous score, is a major part of the magic that pulls lovers of the movie deep inside its beguiling story of one man's quest to climb "The Tree of Knowledge" in order to master "The Tree of Life." Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz both enjoy an actor's feast with multiple roles that place them in the 16th Century, the present, and the 26th Century. We first meet Jackman in the past, as Tomas the Conquistador, when he accepts a mission from Queen Isabel (Weisz) to challenge the Mayans and "deliver Spain from bondage." But his mission is not really so much about delivering Spain as it is taking possession of the fabled fountain of youth and the tree of life referenced in the Book of Genesis. There are no sub-headings or other warnings to let us know when we're about to travel to another era and that causes a double-take when we suddenly see Tom meditating before a large grayed tree afloat in a giant space bubble. There, he counts the rings tattooed on his arm to symbolize the many years or lifetimes he has waited to reunite with his beloved. Finally, in the present time, there is Dr. Tommy Creo, who races against time to discover a cure for his terminally ill wife Izzi (Weisz again.) As painfully frustrating as it is to watch his wife dying, it is almost just as agonizing for Tommy to endure her attitude towards her death. Rather than mourning pitifully for herself or struggling to defeat death as Tommy does, she takes her cue from Mayan mythology that observes "Death is the road to awe," and that conscious dying should be experienced "as an act of creation." Definitely a difficult concept for the average Westerner to embrace. The act of creation that Izzi undertakes to confront death is the composition of an historic novel called "The Fountain." Is the story she's writing one about their lives in centuries past, or a fable conjured to help her husband cope with his grief once she's gone? Or is it both? Only director Aronofsky--maybe--knows for sure.

If balancing time-lines was the biggest challenge viewing The Fountain, viewers could probably handle it easily enough. However, it is also Aronofsky's tendency to explore different states of consciousness while moving back and forth through time. For that reason, in addition to experiencing the ups and downs of Tom's conscious angst, we also step inside his dreams, memories, nightmares, scientific dilemmas, and his life as a character in Izzi's book. The fitting word to describe such a lush mosaic of genius is...well, genius.

Jackman's performance did not earn him an Oscar nomination but probably should have. Not just for the soulful depth he brought to his triple-layered role but for the extraordinary blend of technical and spiritual resources employed to achieve that depth. The overall imagery in The Fountain is pure metaphysical poetry: from flaming swords and golden floating galaxies, to a human body literally blossoming and Tom's ink-black silhouette moving against a backdrop of countless white stars. This is not the kind of movie to which one should give two thumbs up or two thumbs down. It's the kind one should watch and absorb several times over to extract from it as much beauty and wisdom as possible.

by Author-Poet Aberjhani, author of "Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance"

Apocalypto (2006)

The Triumph of Apocalypto

[10/10 · 20 January 2008]

The ancient civilization of the Mayans as presented in Mel Gibson's APOCALYPTO, from mountainous pyramids to detailed ceremonial masks and a field of headless bodies, comes across as so fantastically authentic that it feels like you're watching a reality TV show from 12 centuries ago. This otherworldly realism, if one can describe it as such, comes from more than just the fine-line details cultivated throughout this triumphant film. It also comes from the kind of simple and more extraordinary contrasts that make real life in any era what it is. In this case, the contrasts are between the more urbanized Mayans and the easy-going forest people-- in more modern terms kind of like city folks and country folks. The use of contrast also works with scenes of gentle humor set against scenes of heart-pounding action, leaving no time or space for dull moments.

Gibson's gift as a filmmaker (and writer) seems to be an uncanny ability to demonstrate profound spiritual principles through entertaining dramatic action. It is something he does extremely well in "Apocalypto" as the young hero of the film, Jaguar Paw, is forced to abandon his expectant wife and toddler son in an attempt to fight off Mayan invaders. Failing in that attempt, Jaguar Paw is forced to confront his own fears and physical weaknesses before he can claim the inner strength and renewal of self needed for a chance at victory. He seems to personify the old saying, "There's no rest for the weary." After surviving getting shot through by arrows, he finds himself literally on the run, moving as hard, fast, and painfully determined as he can through crops, dead bodies, jungles, waterfalls, trees, and tar pits. Newcomer Rudy Youngblood tackles the role of Jaguar Paw with real heart and it's impossible not to cheer him on in one scene after another. Likewise when it comes to Dalia Hernandez as his wife Seven. What she does as she holds one baby on her shoulders while bringing another into the world is something that would cause most men to faint just thinking about it.

Along with "Braveheart" and "The Passion of Christ," "Apocalypto" places Gibson among those movie makers who effectively employ film to deliver exceptional entertainment while simultaneously exploring the intriguing profundities of history. In the course of doing so, he manages to communicate quite a lot about the cultural traditions and spiritual beliefs that have brought humanity this far along its collective journey. "Apocalypto" in particular also says a lot about what makes us tick, and endure, as individuals.

by Author-Poet Aberjhani, author of "The Bridge of Silver Wings"

Babel (I) (2006)

Love and Communication in Babel's Global Village

[10/10 · 20 January 2008]

From its outset, just the title of "Babel" makes it clear that the fatally flawed quality of communication in the modern world ranks high among the primary concerns of the film's director, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, and writer Guillermo Arriaga. Despite the fact that we live in a world where we enjoy boasting about daily advances in technology, "Babel" illustrates superbly--via three intertwining stories set in four different countries--that when it comes to the simpler art of hearing, respecting, and exercising compassion for each other, human beings seem dedicated to moving backwards.

The movie takes a close painful look at the barriers we maintain between ourselves; and, it identifies some of the consequences of refusing to sidestep such barriers long enough to see each other as human beings rather than as racial, cultural, or political categories. The international ensemble comprising the cast of Babel is never anything less than flawless. Adrianna Barraza shines pure genius in her performance as a Mexican immigrant whose devotion to her own family and that of her California employers leads to a nightmare of degradation and disillusionment.

Brad Pitt as Richard Jones, Cate Blanchett as his wife Susan Jones, and Gael Garcia Bernal as Santiago have garnered suitable acclaim for their respective roles as products of one culture who find their fates suddenly imperiled by the parameters of another. At times language is the obvious barrier in question but more often than language is attitude in the form of verbal and physical hostility.

Rinko Kikuchi as the troubled deaf mute Japanese adolescent Chieko is as dazzling as she is mesmerizing. Following her mother's suicide, the character of Chieko is condemned to alienation more from within than without. In a world where effective communication is already compromised by preoccupations with prejudice and hidden self-serving agendas, Chieko's attempt at connecting with others is further impeded by her inability to hear or speak vocally. Her situation turns into a profoundly precarious one when the need to reconnect with a sense of life manifests as clumsy heartbreaking attempts at erotic interaction. Chieko is a particularly significant character in "Babel" because it is through Rinko Kikuchi's portrayal of her with raw emotional power and symbolic physical nudity that we experience most fully the film's second major theme: the fate of children in the global village. Common to each of the three connected stories in "Babel," no matter the language spoken or the beliefs entertained, are children thrown into devastating states of crisis and trauma resulting from values and priorities established by adults.

The genuine beginning of "Babel" might appear to be when the barely adolescent boy Yussef, played by Boubker Ait El Caid, accidentally and ignorantly shoots the American tourist Susan while testing the gun's range. The film's real beginning, however, does not take place in front of the movie camera at all. It occurs when a Japanese tourist and hunter presents a gun to his Moroccan guide as a token of gratitude for services rendered. What, in the end, makes "Babel" an overwhelming masterpiece of tragic beauty is how this simple gesture evolves into a shooting that turns into a threat of international chaos and eventually results in the death of a true innocent. Of the many great films that came out in 2006, it is difficult to imagine a more universally substantial and relevant work of cinematic art than this one.

by Author-Poet Aberjhani, author of "Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance"

The Science of Sleep (2006)

Brilliant Flights of Surrealistic Comedy and Romance

[8/10 · 20 January 2008]

On a comic level, The Science of Sleep is an extremely entertaining quirky story of romance between the ultra-geek genius Stephane, played by Gael Garcia Bernal, and the highly creative but more grounded Stephanie, played by Charlotte Gainsbourg. On a more sobering philosophical level, the film examines the age-old conflict between the creative genius' need to reshape life into his or her metaphorical visions of it, while simultaneously struggling to adapt to the surrounding physical and social world as it is.

In the case of Stephane, he is much more adept at negotiating the dreams that fuel his artistic brilliance than he is at managing his up-and-down relationship with Stephanie, whose name would imply that she's actually his perfect match. Considering that Stephane has given up a job he enjoyed--after being duped by his mother into moving to Paris and taking a job he does not particularly enjoy--and does not really want to be where he is, his attempts at happiness are constantly compromised by societal demands.

Director Michel Gondry constructs an extraordinary environment composed of both colorful animation and realistic French urbanism. Within this environment he wisely gives free reign to his gifted cast and puppet creator Laurie Faggione. The result is a daring film anchored in emotional and psychological intensities even as it takes off on wild thrilling flights of surrealistic imagery. The Science of Sleep then becomes an alchemy of exploding dreams, nightmares, despair, and love.

by Author-Poet Aberjhani, author of "The Bridge of Silver Wings"

Julie Walking Home (2002)

Reconciling Sensual Pleasure and Spiritual Responsibility

[9/10 · 19 January 2008]

The film THE HEALER (a.k.a. "Julie Walking Home") poses the kind of unsettling metaphysical questions that many prefer to avoid asking. At the same time, it suggests some intriguing answers. Like the film THE CRIME OF PADRE AMARO (please see companion review) the movie "The Healer" is a study of the degrees to which human beings can enjoy the gift of human sexuality while simultaneously attempting to serve as channels for spiritual healing, social harmony, and political integrity. That Alexei--played flawlessly by Lothaire Bluteau--is a true and gifted spiritual healer becomes clear from the outset.

We witness him as a child in a hospital where doctors discover that standing him on the back of an ailing patient relieves the patient's pain. Moreover, his very presence apparently has a healing impact on every patient in the ward. As an adult, Alexei becomes famous as a healer who shares his gifts freely with the world. But like the proverbial prophet without honor in his own hometown, he has to endure the complaints of an aging mother who points out that not only is his spiritual generosity towards the world doing nothing to alleviate her financial distress but it is perhaps not the best way to prepare for his own latter years.

Much of "The Healer" actually centers around the rift that occurs in the life of the Makowskys, a Canadian family whose happiness is torn asunder when the husband--played with superb complexity by William Fichtner--has an affair, and the young son develops cancer. Is the child's disease a physical manifestation of the family's spiritual dis-ease following the father's adultery? Good question to ponder.

In her desperation to save their son, the mother--exemplary work here by Miranda Otto--seeks out the assistance of the healer Alexei. From their very first meeting, the attraction between them is clearly both spiritual and sexual. The child is indeed healed and all returns uneasily to their separate lives. Then Alexei visits the mother and the two have an affair. Their sexual union seems to rob the healer of his ability to help the little boy when his cancer returns. However, ironically, it also results in a pregnancy. Is this a bad thing or a good thing for the family and the healer? Pay close attention to the end and see what you think.

by Author-Poet Aberjhani, author of "The Bridge of Silver Wings"

The Crime of Padre Amaro (2002)

When Sensuality and Spirituality Combine Passions

[8/10 · 19 January 2008]

The release of the film THE CRIME OF PADRE AMARO caused about as much of an uproar in Mexico in 2002 as the publication of the novel, written by Jose Maria Eca de Queiroz, caused in 1875. With its dangerously intertwining themes of spiritual ecstasy and sexual passion, it's not hard to see why. At the heart of the story is a young priest who wrestles in a major way with the tempting hungers of his body and the grace-filled yearnings of his spirit. It does not help that, to pursue his vocation, he is sent to a town sustained by a culture of corruption.

One thing actor Gael Garcia Bernal does not know how to do is give a bad performance, and in the movie's title role he captures brilliantly all the agonizing ambiguity that comes with being a young adult male intent on asserting his masculinity while also serving the spiritual needs of his community. Unfortunately, his happily deluded demeanor meets with an equally intense personality in the form of Amelia, a devout young devotee acted with mesmerizing perfection by the gorgeous Ana Claudia Talancon. Amelia idolizes the young priest as a true and noble holy man whose sexuality is made sacred by his presumably pure soul. He in turn dares to drape her in a cape reserved for representations of the Madonna and recites to her from Solomon's "Song of Songs" as they seduce each other. Controversial? Better believe it.

As in the film THE HEALER (please see companion review) "The Crime of Padre Amaro" depicts sexuality and spirituality as equally powerful forces of attraction capable of producing very different results, which will not be revealed here. The outcome in "The Crime of Padre Amaro" is shocking in more ways than one and well worth contemplating for a long time.

by Author-Poet Aberjhani, author of "Christmas When Music Almost Killed the World"

The Great Debaters (2007)

The Dangerous Life of a Harlem Renaissance Poet

[10/10 · 19 January 2008]

When reading about what may be described as the lesser celebrated heroic figures of the Harlem Renaissance, we rarely get a definitive look at just how complicated and sometimes dangerous their everyday lives were. In fact, until the past ten years, many defined the period primarily by its well-known literary, musical, and artistic elements while overlooking the fact there was any political component to it at all. THE GREAT DEBATERS corrects both oversights by giving us an extraordinary portrait of poet and educator Melvin B. Tolson (1898-1966), portrayed with convincing restraint by Denzel Washington, who also directed the movie. At the same time, it delivers an exciting story filled with the creative intellectual genius that characterized the Harlem Renaissance, the thrill of youthful romance, and the painful loss of innocence.

Tolson, historically, is known largely as the celebrated author-poet of "Rendezvous with America" (1944); "Libretto for the Republic of Liberia" (1953); and "Harlem Gallery" (1965). But we meet him in The Great Debaters, prior to his literary fame, as a professor of English at Wiley College in Marshall, Texas. By day he teaches and guides his students through the passion-filled topics of the era: labor rights, race relations, public welfare policies, and personal ethics. By night he is a labor organizer who runs the risk of imprisonment or getting lynched when he meets with Whites and Blacks to convince them to organize unions to protect their rights as workers. His efforts cause him to become branded as a communist, and therefore distrusted as a threat not merely to labor laws (or the lack of any significant ones at the time) but to American democracy.

Nate Parker as Henry Lowe, Jurnee Smollett as Samantha Brooke, and Denzel Whitaker as 14-year-old James Farmer, Jr. all give inspired performances in their roles as Tolson's brilliant student debaters who endure challenge after challenge before earning an invitation to debate the team at Harvard. With the odds stacked solidly against them, they nevertheless pull off an historical win. Just as significant as the final team's triumph, is the footnote identifying these students as future community leaders and history-makers in their own right. Henry Lowe would go on to become an influential minister, Samantha Brooke a lawyer, and Farmer a founder of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).

Much has been made of the fact that The Great Debaters is the first major film project on which media empress Oprah Winfrey (one of the film's producers) and two-time Oscar-winner Denzel Washington have worked together. Of equal significance, if not greater, is the fact that in addition to Washington the movie features powerhouse Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker as Dr. James Farmer, Sr. How many movies are there, after all, in which two Academy Award-winning African-American actors play characters of historical consequence like Tolson and Farmer? More important than the novelty is the contrast between the two, somewhat like the classic divergence noted later between Martin Luther King Jr.'s political philosophies and those initially espoused by Malcolm X. The differences between Tolson and Farmer, however, appear more subtle and that very likely is due to Robert Eisele's amazing screenplay.

The hype and buzz surrounding The Great Debate sometimes comes across as a bit over the top. Despite that, the movie is actually far more excellent than anything you've likely heard about it.

By Author-Poet Aberjhani, author of "Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance" (Facts on File Library of American History)

Angel-A (2005)

Touched by an Irresistible French Angel-A

[10/10 · 18 January 2008]

The French fondness for absurdity and philosophical conundrums is on fine comic display in the film Angel-A, written and directed by veteran movie maker Luc Besson. The leading role of Andre was tailor-crafted for actor Jamel Debbouze, who nails it dead spot on and never fails to wring affecting humor, compassion, and wonder out of every line and gesture.

As Andre, Debbouze is a down and out would-be artist living in Paris. Though he prefers to think of himself as an American on some sort of bohemian cultural adventure, it appears more likely that he's a Moroccan immigrant with big plans to strike it rich investing in olive crops in South America. His meager financial means make those plans unlikely to become reality. When he's unable to pay back money borrowed from the mob, he decides to commit suicide by jumping off the Alexander III Bridge into the Seine River. However, just as he's about to jump, he notices a blonde woman about to do the same. Despite her obvious intentions, he asks what she's doing. She answers by making the jump.

Although he was fully prepared to cancel his own life, Andre ends up saving that of the woman he eventually comes to know as "Angel-A." Happy though he is to have spared her, he also finds himself lamenting, "I can't even kill myself without someone f*****g it up!" That the individual he has rescued is someone extraordinary is apparent from her beauty, which stands out even while she's dripping wet and disheveled. A clue to just how extraordinary she may be is provided when she stands up and towers over Andre's five-foot-five form. In exchange for having saved her life, the woman vows to serve Andre in any manner he chooses. To Andre's way of thinking, it will be good enough just to have this beautiful creature by his side and allow the association with her to bestow some degree of dignity upon him. Angel-A's way of thinking turns out to be very different when she proves she can, and does, deliver a great deal more.

As Angel-A proceeds to correct, one by one, Andre's financial and legal woes with the mob, the struggling transplant can hardly believe or accept his good fortune. Like most modern-minded individuals probably would do, he rejects her revelation that she's actually an angel. After all, her chosen disguise for this visit to earth is, in her own words, that of "a six-foot sexy bitch." She provides Andre with both the proof he requires and certain solutions needed to his mortal dilemmas. The greatest challenge turns out not to be Andre's problems with the mob but his lack of respect and love for none other than: Andre. After Angel-A gives her charge the gift of himself, he of course falls dangerously in love with her. However, the brilliant twist in this film is the dilemma with which Angel-A finds herself literally wrestling once her mission to assist Andre appears to have been completed and her wings spread to fly her back to heaven.

Rie Rasmussen--a student of directing as well as an actor and writer--is a dazzling marvel in her portrayal of the title character. She and Debbouze, aided by Besson's fantastic script, share an on-screen chemistry that grows more incandescent with every scene. The city of Paris itself also gives an amazing kind of performance as the flawless setting for this modern metaphysical fable. That the film was shot in black and white adds immensely to its poetic enchantments and irresistible romantic appeal.

by Author-Poet Aberjhani author of "The Bridge of Silver Wings" and "Christmas When Music Almost Killed the World"