Racism in the US also drives the action of The Secret Life of Bees(2019), set in the south in 1964, adapted by Lynn Nottage from Sue Monk Kidd’s novel, with music by Duncan Sheik ( Spring Awakening) and lyrics by Susan Birkenhead. Retrograde is not nuanced: it is forthright, near-polemical. What begins as relaxed alertness becomes, with a small shift of his shoulders, a defeated slump – and finally turns to a bold declaration of an actual speech made by Poitier. Then the door opens, and guess who’s coming to the drama? Ivanno Jeremiah is a revelation as Poitier: commanding, until he is suddenly at bay. Cameron’s dialogue nails the braggadocio: “Your arse must be pretty jealous of your mouth with all the shit that’s coming out of it.” Ian Bonar, feeble and weaselly as the would-be liberal scriptwriter, and Daniel Lapaine, blatantly bullying (not in a passive-aggressive way), are highly watchable, though both would be more persuasive if they brought it down a notch or two. He’s black black.” Frankie Bradshaw’s design nails the period, with glass-panelled door, sunburst clock, Abbott and Costello poster. Two white men, studio lawyer and scriptwriter, whisky to hand, discuss the casting of an actor in a new movie: “He’s not even Harry Belafonte black.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |