The success of ‘Selma’ (2014) confirmed DuVernay as one of the most important contemporary African-American voices in American cinema, and has since been released through productions such as the documentary ‘Amendment XIII’ (2016) and the miniseries ‘So They See Us’ ( 2019)- kept talking about racism systemic United States of America. His new work, which approaches the subject with the most assertive attitude among his filmography; In fact, it is so ambitious that the promotional material of the film describes it as research. “The birth of injustice” and the “hidden truth”. And his real problem is the enormous distance between what he boasts about and what he actually offers.
‘Origin’ presented in today’s competition in Mostra is a half-screen adaptation of this article ‘Casta: the origin that separates us’, It was published in 2020 by journalist Isabel Wilkerson and is a semi-dramatization of parts from the author’s life. The theoretical basis of this acclaimed book, in short, is that what we usually consider racism is not usually the product of hatred of a particular race, but rather the inevitable result of racism. institutionalized system of exploitation This event, which legitimizes the superiority of one section of society over another and serves as an explanation not only for the persecution of African Americans in the United States, but also for the extermination of Jews in Nazi Germany and the violent marginalization of the Dalit minority in India.
It’s an interesting idea, but it’s not particularly new, nor is it a hidden fact. But the movie insists on portraying the Wilkerson version as follows: visionary While repeatedly making the claim, I repeat ‘nauseous’ but without digging into it, trying to reveal it in the simplest and most didactic way possible, so as to invite the viewer’s intelligence to feel humiliated.
‘Origin’ listens to Wilkerson explain the historical facts that illustrate the main thesis for most of his shots, or watches as he travels the world interviewing experts who think about it, and inevitably follows that thesis. It imposes the forms of an academic thesis on the story or a newspaper article. In parallel, we say that DuVernay recreates particularly unfortunate periods in the author’s family life and attempts to give his story enough emotional charge to compensate for this negativity. extreme pedagogy, but the lack of connection between this domestic drama and the main theme of the movie prevents him from achieving it.
First person pass
If ‘Origin’ is a continuation of its director’s previous work, ‘Io Capitano’ It works as something akin to the detour in his filmography. In fact, the film moves away from highly stylized cinema. Matteo Garrone has signed since ‘Gomorrah’ (2008) and instead links to the first two feature films of his career, ‘Terra de mezzo’ (1996) and ‘Ospiti’ (1998). drama migrate.
The film, which was screened again at the Venice competition today, is about the epic of a Senegalese teenager who, with his cousin, decides to flee his country to Italy to fulfill his dreams, without having a very vague idea of what it means. . During his journey, he faces death many times from exertion or torture, and is subjected to repeated abuses by those who take advantage of the helplessness and naivety of people like him. “I wanted to show your reverse shot the image with which we usually classify immigrants”, Garrone explained today.
“We see them coming by boat over the Mediterranean, sometimes we save them, sometimes we can’t. We never think about the families they left behind and the desires that made them risk their lives.”. The result is one of Garrone’s simplest films, which lacks the conceptual complexity and allegorical burden of films such as ‘The Tale of Tales’ (2015) and ‘Dogman’ (2018) and is generally less prominent than The Tale of Tales for its achievements. became one. Mistakes she avoids: Being a story about victims and villains, offering easy answers to difficult problems, and shamelessly call the audience’s tears. That’s more than can be said for the many previous films with which it shared the theme.