Green Book 2018
I was interested in seeing Green Book based on the good reviews, but didn’t get around to it until after it was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar (and Actor and Supporting Actor). It is “inspired by a true story,” which means a lot of it is made up, but it feels about right. It is similar to movies like Hidden Figures and The Help (Octavia Spencer starred in both of those and was an executive producer on this) that portray black people dealing with the segregated south of the 50’s and 60’s. I’m not sure if we are supposed to pat ourselves on the back for things having gotten better, admire the people who dealt with those conditions, or see that we still have a ways to go, maybe all of the above. None of the movies hit particularly hard, but I do think they show an important era.
In this movie, a black concert pianist, Don Shirley, goes on a regional tour of small venues including part of the deep south. He hires an Italian American bouncer from the Copacabana as his driver and protection. The bouncer is shown as racist at the beginning of the movie, but comes around. The pianist is stuck up and elitist, but learns to relax a little. It’s a good road trip movie and both of the actors are very good, playing well developed, complex characters. It is also kind of by the numbers. I think all of the white southerners in the movie are horribly racist, but you see the weird complexities of southern racism at work, even if you don’t see anyone who doesn’t conform to that, which certainly some did. Shirley is welcome to play a concert at an all white country club, but is not allowed to eat in the dining room or use the facilities, but his driver and the two white members of The Don Shirley Trio are.
Ultimately, this isn’t a huge story. Don Shirley isn’t someone most people have heard of, but it is a good story of how things started to change and maybe some of the ice that was breaking during that time. It is a positive story and fun to watch with very good performances. Unfortunately the two main characters are gone now, so I’m not sure how much of any of this is true, but even as a work of fiction the story is a good one.
Written: 26 Jan 2019
Owned on: Blu-ray, DVD, Digital