Film Reviews by AJ

Did you know that gritty crime dramas about race and murder in the American South could be colourful? Neither did I.

So what's everyone else's excuse?

One thing to note is that it isn't just about black man coming to KKK town (speaking of which you-know-whoms would whine about this film being "woke" if they made it today, especially with the use of the Confederate flag) but also about the in addition the political, the economic grip-loosening of the old White Supremacist Aristocratic order, which drives a lot of the plot of this film and also puts the spotlight on certain characters, including the one who cannot get his way anymore. If you know nothing else about this film, you know who I mean.

I do appreciate that Virgil Tibbs is not above his passions, and that even though he is a professional, he is still a mortal man and he is not above making errors or letting things get to him. I liked the part where he agrees to help the Chief *because* the Chief says Virgil is the expert. And it did engage me more with the plot, wondering if Virgil got it wrong, and X is innocent and Y is the guilty party. It really adds to it, though I won't say whether he did.

So don't get me wrong, whatever you heard about the framing device being an amazing piece of storytelling is absolutely true. It is the case that I was gripped from the start of the second POV story until the last ten minutes. I like the fact that you cannot trust the various points of view and how bizzare it would be for anyone to lie in the way that they did about what happened, which makes you really desire as to *why*. Great cinematography on what is mostly a very limited stuff. Very great stuff from Kurosawa.

The problem was that the last ten minutes did leave me cold. And I know it was not intended to do that. It is meant to be a way for the audience to retain hope in humanity, and yet it did not work on me. I was not convinced by the message of good feeling it was trying to convey because it was a little out of left field. Would be better if it was more bleak. At least I would appreciate what the cold feeling would mean. Or if [SPOILER] belonged to the Commoner as played by Kichijiro Ueda, who brought it with him to shelter from the rain. At least that would provide a mirror image to the sort of lies that everyone else told in the film.

I don't know what Marty was thinking casting David Bowie as Pontius Pilate.

I mean, he gives a great performance but you wouldn't think to put Bowie in with the idea he'd be so... understated. Not to say he doesn't fill the screen with his presence in the little time that he has (he is David Bowie), but the Goblin King this is not.

Also I can't get over Harvey Keitel's red hair dye.