Green Book (2018)
[Reader disclaimer: there will be spoilers discussed].
For our penultimate review this week, we'll be delving into Green Book (2018), yet another "true story" biopic, this time focusing on pianist, Dr Don Shirley (played by Mahershala Ali) and his driver, Tony Vallelonga (played by Viggo Mortensen).
Green Book, in a nutshell, is the classical tale of opposition: ignorance versus intelligence, prejudice versus acceptance, normality versus outliers. It is exceptional in its subtleties, adhering to themes of hidden homosexuality, suppressed racism and even feelings of personal inadequacy. Like BlacKkKlansman (2018), it is set in the past (namely, for Green Book, the early 60s) but the displays of racial discrimination and generalised view of ethnicity in the film are just as applicable today as they were back then. In that sense, Green Book is also a sociopolitical commentary of contemporary racism, but it focuses on both the African American experience as well as the Italian American experience.
The film has been criticised for making Mortensen's character a "white saviour", glorifying his role in the narrative as the one who saves the man of colour from himself. However, I would argue that Mortensen's character undergoes similar changes to that of Ali's, exploring identity issues deeply rooted in his heritage and having to undergo the process of unlearning toxic or prejudicial traits. It is, in my opinion, equally balanced: what starts as an opposition, two bookends of the same, discriminating spectrum, becomes a harmonious connection over the span of the film's runtime.
As aforementioned, one of my favourite things about this film is the way in which it uses subtlety: be it speech convergence, silent scenes (such as Mortensen binning the cups that the POC used) or the omission of evident fact, Green Book spends time establishing character, motive and scenes in such cleverly veiled ways which are both simultaneously obvious in their meaning and not.
Unfortunately, there are some things that I found rather unsettling. Although the somewhat cringeworthy accent that Mortensen uses becomes surprisingly endearing as the film progresses, I found issue not with the movie itself, but with the context thereafter: it wasn't until I'd finished the film that I began to research into it for my review (I usually do a background check for context etc.) and that was when I found that not only did Don Shirley's real family condemn the film for its inaccuracies (it's never a good film if a biopic poorly reflects the subject matter, even if it's partly fictionalised...looking at you, Bohemian Rhapsody) but that Viggo Mortensen used the n-word in a press conference of the film.
Not only that but Nick Vallelonga, son of Tony and co-writer for the film, has recently been called out for past tweets that adhere to President Trump's racist ideologies, supporting the claim that Muslims were to blame for 9/11: it is now that I should point out for those of you who are not informed, that Mahershala Ali, one of the main actors in Green Book, is Muslim. So you can understand why that didn't go down too well.
Whilst Mortensen has now apologised for his use of the n-word, and has been supported by Ali who claims that "there's a difference between racism, insensitivity and a lack of awareness" and thinks that to move forward, people need to embrace that kind of apology for a lack of awareness in order to heal, the other contextual factors are admittedly troubling. I can guarantee that without this information, the film is thoroughly enjoyable, and knowing this now, it still doesn't detract from my experience of enjoying it, but the controversy surrounding Green Book may have an impact on its performance at the Oscars.
Having said that, I found this film to be surprisingly endearing. The third act especially is as empowering as it is wholesome, depicting both Mortensen and Ali's characters as more accepting and loving people, embracing their differences and finding solace in each other as friends. Regardless of whether this really happened in reality, it works well as a fictional piece.
What's it nominated for?
Currently, Green Book is nominated for:
- Best Picture - Peter Farrelly, Nick Vallelonga and Brian Currie
- Best Actor - Viggo Mortensen
- Best Supporting Actor - Mahershala Ali
- Best Original Screenplay - Peter Farrelly, Nick Vallelonga and Brian Currie
- Best Film Editing - Patrick J. Don Vito
Should it win?
Despite it being one of the higher ratings in my list, I don't think it'll win Best Picture. I'd like it to, but not as much as I'd want films like BlacKkKlansman or The Favourite (2018) to win. I imagine Adam Driver will get Best Supporting Actor but, again, I'd like for Mahershala Ali to get it.
I think, in terms of awards, it's wishful thinking. And I think that's a shame because I genuinely believe that Green Book is one of the best nominated films on this list.
Overall rating: 8/10
- K
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