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It seems to be the evening for consolation endings (hey, here's your perfect bloke much closer to how you first met him and removed of the curse that would have meant it wouldn't have worked before) but I didn't expect one from John Sayles. Whilst these write ups are always more plot-heavy than I'd like, I'm going to have to talk about the ending. This really is a spoiler break. At the same time, I think this is a film worth seeing - I didn't expect Wanted to be sensitive, but I hold Sayles to certain standards.
Honeydripper (John Sayles, 2007)
Picking cotton, check.
Black workers in the fields, check.
Out of touch southern belle, check.
Noble black patriarch, check.
Nubile young buck, check.
Mama, check.
Negro spirituals, check.
Rivalist religion, check.
Redneck sheriff, check.
My my, we must be in the south, and not, although the title might suggest it, a Roosevelt Sykes biopic.
John Sayles is one of the true independents, writer and director (and editor) of his own films, which he mostly funds by script doctor work and the occasional hack work (Piranha, Jurassic Park IV,
Honeydripper (John Sayles, 2007)
Picking cotton, check.
Black workers in the fields, check.
Out of touch southern belle, check.
Noble black patriarch, check.
Nubile young buck, check.
Mama, check.
Negro spirituals, check.
Rivalist religion, check.
Redneck sheriff, check.
My my, we must be in the south, and not, although the title might suggest it, a Roosevelt Sykes biopic.
John Sayles is one of the true independents, writer and director (and editor) of his own films, which he mostly funds by script doctor work and the occasional hack work (Piranha, Jurassic Park IV,
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It seems to be the evening for consolation endings (hey, here's your perfect bloke much closer to how you first met him and removed of the curse that would have meant it wouldn't have worked before) but I didn't expect one from John Sayles. Whilst these write ups are always more plot-heavy than I'd like, I'm going to have to talk about the ending. This really is a spoiler break. At the same time, I think this is a film worth seeing - I didn't expect <I>Wanted</I> to be sensitive, but I hold Sayles to certain standards.
<lj-cut text="Honeydripper (John Sayles, 2007)"><B><I>Honeydripper</I> (John Sayles, 2007)</B>
Picking cotton, check.
Black workers in the fields, check.
Out of touch southern belle, check.
Noble black patriarch, check.
Nubile young buck, check.
Mama, check.
Negro spirituals, check.
Rivalist religion, check.
Redneck sheriff, check.
My my, we must be in the south, and not, although the title might suggest it, a Roosevelt Sykes biopic.
John Sayles is one of the true independents, writer and director (and editor) of his own films, which he mostly funds by script doctor work and the occasional hack work (<I>Piranha</I>, <I>Jurassic Park IV</I>,<I><The Spiderwick Chronicles</I>...). He's a director with a social - not to say socialist - agenda, not afraid to tackle difficult subjects head on, with an awareness of how capitalism impacts upon the individual. <I>Matewan</I>, for example, is a story about a strike and scab labour, in which the working class solidarity between miners ought to trump racial identity. Sometimes the endings are down beat (the protagonist fails), some times ambiguous (are they rescued?). It's <I>never</I> - as I recall - comfortable. Whilst clearly he is dependent on the Man for distribution, he's not beholden to Hollywood for his treatment of his characters.
So here we have noble Tyrone Purvis (Danny Glover) trying to keep his bar afloat just outside of the (ironically named) twon Harmony, with everyone trying to foreclose on the money he owes. And as the landlord threatens to sell the place from under him, even the local sheriff (Stacey Keach) is looking to make trouble. He has to make money fast - and a plan is hatched: he's booked a top line guitarist to play but instead has to pass off new boy in (edge of) town Sonny (Gary Clark Jr) as him in part of a scam that should leave them with money and clear their debts. Meanwhile Sonny has been arrested for vagrancy and sent to the cotton fields by the corrupt sheriff and Purvis's wife Delilah (Lisa Gay Hamilton) is trying desperately to be born again.
Of course we do get to see the fabric of society: the black townsfolk and the army base, the church, the justice system, the alcohol suppliers (cue Sayles's cameo), the landlord, the wife of the owner of the plantation, and whilst music and drink can offer a temporary relief from the system, it can't be bucked. You know it's not going to end well. You know the scheme will backfire. That electrical fault - a fire maybe. The beautiful daughter - China Doll (Yaya DaCosta) - will surely need to be rescued from some man's clutches. The sheriff's taste for dark meat (of chicken) suggests Delilah may need to be sacrificed...
What does it for me are the two kids who play at music at the start of the film, who sneak into the bar to watch performances before they are caught, and who play at going electric at the film's climax. They belong in the Disney version. I've seen their like in a dozen feel good movies. The hope of the next generation. And whilst this is the 1950s not the 1930s, there's still something old fashioned and quaint about the soundtrack. It's as if Sayles has aimed to write the archetype and has ended up with the stereotype. And rather than let the full hopelessness of the situation Sayles has built up fall upon them - Purvis makes his money, thanks to an admittedly unwanted partnership with the sheriff. The fake guitarist will get to play again and persoomably isn't going back to the chain gang. The trouble making character who started with a big build up has seen the error of his ways. And whilst I liked Possum (Keb' Mo') as a kind of guardian angel/spirit of the blues figure - it was whimsy that had no place in what should have been more material.
The pessimist view is that it can all fall down: the electricity company and the corporation supplying liquor may discover the con, his wife may yet get religion after all (and it's not clear why she would choose to go back to being a faithful wife, cook and bottle washer rather than be born again) and a business partnership with a rednecked sheriff and a blackman, no matter how noble, cannot end well. But the departure of Possum suggests the spirit of the blues is no longer necessary, and the optimism stands unchallenged.
It's not that I hate happy endings - but sometimes characters should stay dead, and you can't always get what you want.
</lj-cut>
<B>Totals: 73 (Cinema: 27; DVD: 44; TV: 2)</B>
<lj-cut text="Honeydripper (John Sayles, 2007)"><B><I>Honeydripper</I> (John Sayles, 2007)</B>
Picking cotton, check.
Black workers in the fields, check.
Out of touch southern belle, check.
Noble black patriarch, check.
Nubile young buck, check.
Mama, check.
Negro spirituals, check.
Rivalist religion, check.
Redneck sheriff, check.
My my, we must be in the south, and not, although the title might suggest it, a Roosevelt Sykes biopic.
John Sayles is one of the true independents, writer and director (and editor) of his own films, which he mostly funds by script doctor work and the occasional hack work (<I>Piranha</I>, <I>Jurassic Park IV</I>,<I><The Spiderwick Chronicles</I>...). He's a director with a social - not to say socialist - agenda, not afraid to tackle difficult subjects head on, with an awareness of how capitalism impacts upon the individual. <I>Matewan</I>, for example, is a story about a strike and scab labour, in which the working class solidarity between miners ought to trump racial identity. Sometimes the endings are down beat (the protagonist fails), some times ambiguous (are they rescued?). It's <I>never</I> - as I recall - comfortable. Whilst clearly he is dependent on the Man for distribution, he's not beholden to Hollywood for his treatment of his characters.
So here we have noble Tyrone Purvis (Danny Glover) trying to keep his bar afloat just outside of the (ironically named) twon Harmony, with everyone trying to foreclose on the money he owes. And as the landlord threatens to sell the place from under him, even the local sheriff (Stacey Keach) is looking to make trouble. He has to make money fast - and a plan is hatched: he's booked a top line guitarist to play but instead has to pass off new boy in (edge of) town Sonny (Gary Clark Jr) as him in part of a scam that should leave them with money and clear their debts. Meanwhile Sonny has been arrested for vagrancy and sent to the cotton fields by the corrupt sheriff and Purvis's wife Delilah (Lisa Gay Hamilton) is trying desperately to be born again.
Of course we do get to see the fabric of society: the black townsfolk and the army base, the church, the justice system, the alcohol suppliers (cue Sayles's cameo), the landlord, the wife of the owner of the plantation, and whilst music and drink can offer a temporary relief from the system, it can't be bucked. You know it's not going to end well. You know the scheme will backfire. That electrical fault - a fire maybe. The beautiful daughter - China Doll (Yaya DaCosta) - will surely need to be rescued from some man's clutches. The sheriff's taste for dark meat (of chicken) suggests Delilah may need to be sacrificed...
What does it for me are the two kids who play at music at the start of the film, who sneak into the bar to watch performances before they are caught, and who play at going electric at the film's climax. They belong in the Disney version. I've seen their like in a dozen feel good movies. The hope of the next generation. And whilst this is the 1950s not the 1930s, there's still something old fashioned and quaint about the soundtrack. It's as if Sayles has aimed to write the archetype and has ended up with the stereotype. And rather than let the full hopelessness of the situation Sayles has built up fall upon them - Purvis makes his money, thanks to an admittedly unwanted partnership with the sheriff. The fake guitarist will get to play again and persoomably isn't going back to the chain gang. The trouble making character who started with a big build up has seen the error of his ways. And whilst I liked Possum (Keb' Mo') as a kind of guardian angel/spirit of the blues figure - it was whimsy that had no place in what should have been more material.
The pessimist view is that it can all fall down: the electricity company and the corporation supplying liquor may discover the con, his wife may yet get religion after all (and it's not clear why she would choose to go back to being a faithful wife, cook and bottle washer rather than be born again) and a business partnership with a rednecked sheriff and a blackman, no matter how noble, cannot end well. But the departure of Possum suggests the spirit of the blues is no longer necessary, and the optimism stands unchallenged.
It's not that I hate happy endings - but sometimes characters should stay dead, and you can't always get what you want.
</lj-cut>
<B>Totals: 73 (Cinema: 27; DVD: 44; TV: 2)</B>
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