What should I call this genre? Here! "Near-musical" film based on real events. There is a whole layer of such projects, but not all directors manage to reveal the story without damaging reality. At the same time, create a picture in which the visual and musical range is ideally combined.
I'll try again - "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Madonna: Birth of a Legend", "Amy", "Rocketman" - everything is clear, these are musical films. They are about cult musicians and, in many ways, for their fans, who will personally say “believe” or “do not believe” for themselves. With "near-musical" everything is much more complicated, as I think. Here it is necessary to reveal not the “theme of the star”, but the topic of a certain period of time (the same “There are only girls in jazz”), a specific label (“Cadillac Records”), a specific story (“Life in pink”) and so on.
In the Green Book, the interracial discrimination that prevailed in America in the middle of the last century, as exemplified by a particular tough musician. These were the times when black musicians already had the right to perform for whites, but it was hardly possible to be with them at the same table and sleep in the same room.
When I started watching the film, I was expecting something different - fights, clashes, constant tension, but I got something unexpected and pleasant. What exactly? The story of a white Italian driver and a black musician, tucked into a great soundtrack and great acting.
So, the Italian dolt, and part-time head of the family, loses his job and gets a lucky ticket in the person of a Negro pianist (or, as you can put it more tolerantly, a black virtuoso!), Who needs a driver who can solve problems with an intolerant society in an adult way.
There is only one problem - Viggo Mortenson's character, Tony Chatterbox, and he himself does not really relate to people with a different skin color. But! Good for good people, and Don Shirley is a good person, even if he is the exact opposite of Tony Chatterbox. Together they have a long way to go through the Midwest, where their own laws reign and the "Green Book for Black Travelers" is very relevant.
A wonderful play in contrast - Viggo Mortenson / Mahershala Ali, white / black, secularism and carelessness, erudition and simplicity, loneliness and family ties. The performance of these two is so beautiful that you simply don't notice the rest of the actors in the frame.
Special thanks to Chris Bowers, film composer, for the soundtrack. Fans of good old music of the middle of the last century will definitely like it.
The film is categorically not recommended for action fans - it will not be here. There will be a pleasant movie about historical events that took place, and moreover, relatively recently. I would put him on the same level with Cadillac Records and Adrian Brody in my hit parade of "near-musical" cinema.
Personally, I understand why the Oscars and Golden Globes were received, and I also begin to understand why Mahershala Ali, who played Don Shirley in this film, is becoming an increasingly popular actor in Hollywood, and even replaces Wesley Snipes as Blade.
Details about the film
P.S. With all my love for detail, I found an interesting fact, which, however, contains a spoiler for non-watching viewers - Don Shirley really went to jail along with Tony Chatterbox for the fact that the driver pushed an intolerant policeman in the jaw. True, the events took place during another trip of the musician, which does not change the meaning of what happened. The pianist, legally entitled to a single call, called President Kennedy's brother, Robert, who was attorney general at the time. And Robert Kennedy really scolded the police, who put the eminent musician behind bars.
Author:Olga Knysh