Movie Review: The Apollo

The Apollo *** / *****

Directed by: Roger Ross Williams.

Written by: Cassidy Hartmann and Jean Tsien and Roger Ross Williams.

 

There is so much amazing footage in The Apollo that no matter what, it should be seen. Just to see some amazing performances by multiple generations of black performers – musicians, singers, dancers, comedians, etc. – all of whom made their way through the legendary Apollo theater since it opened its doors in 1934. There is so much great footage that you kind of wish the film had been turned into one of those massive Ken Burns style documentary series – 10 hours long, with multiple different episodes. The film feels choppy – jumping from one fascinating subject to another sometimes so quickly, that it starts to feel like little more than a surface level treatment of one of the most important cultural institutions in America. It wants to tell the story of its past, and its future. For a 98-minute feature, it does an admirable job. I just wanted more – more footage, more depth.

 

Watching the film, you get a sense of just what this theater has meant to that community. The film really does do an admirable job of spelling that out – telling stories about the original owners – both through the eyes of some of performers, and his son (who would become the owner). It details how much it meant to the audiences that showed up – who finally got to see people who looked like them on stage, and to the performers, who could be themselves. There is a marvelous, haunting rendition of Strange Fruit by Ella Fitzgerald – a brilliant song, that her label of course didn’t want her to record or perform, lest she offend people down South. At The Apollo though, she could do what she wanted. The film has many such great performances in it.

 

There are a lot of different segments in the film – and it certainly feels like it is segmented, sometimes one segment just stops, and another keeps going. I think I could watch an entire documentary about Amateur night at The Apollo – a tradition that a lot of performers started out, and just how merciless the audience could be. If you weren’t good, you’d get booed – we even see a 13-year-old Lauryn Hill getting booed on amateur night (they also include a later performance – where she is certainly not booed). The sequence on dance at The Apollo feels a little thin – I’m sure there’s a lot of material out there, but it kind of feels like Williams trots out Savion Glover to explain it, and then shoves out the door as he’s just getting warmed out. The same could be said for the comedy segment – in which Jamie Foxx plays the major role, explaining why comedians matter – but not getting much time to show why.

 

The film has a framing device – Williams showing that the Apollo is still relevant, but showing us the rehearsals and performances of a dramatic version of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me. The film wants to pay respect to the past, but wants to ensure everyone watching know just how important The Apollo still is - and hopefully will remain for years to come.

 

I do wish that The Apollo was deeper – it basically skims along the surface for its entire runtime, and while what we see is great, there is no doubt that we could have had an even better film. The Apollo is certainly capable of sustaining the deep dive treatment – and hopefully, it will get that someday.

Movie Review: Life, Animated

Life, Animated

Directed by: Roger Ross Williams.   

Based on the Book by: Ron Suskind.

 

Movies can have a unique power – can help you see the world in a different way, and can even help you make sense of that world. We all have movies like that – movies that seem to be speaking directly to us and our experiences. But for Owen Suskind, those feelings go even deeper. When he was three, he “vanished” as his father explained it – that was when Owen was diagnosed with autism, and the formerly bright, happy child retreated into himself. He started to come out of it – as much as someone with autism can anyway – years later, and the vehicle that Owen to do that was Disney movies. He had seen, and memorized, every Disney animated film ever made – and in many ways had internalized them. For a while, the only words Owen would speak was Disney dialogue – but slowly he spoke more and more. During the documentary Life, Animated Owen is 23 years old – and he is preparing to move out of his group home, into an apartment by himself. He’s even looking for a job. Disney movies are still how he relates to the world – and it’s a world that is more complex than perhaps we expected.

 

Based on the book by Owen’s journalist father, Ron Suskind, Life, Animated is a touching documentary, which at times borders on the manipulative, without ever quite tipping over into the saccharine. Strangely, Ron Suskind is the least interesting of the family members in the film – because everything he says seems so practiced and rehearsed – like he’s told all these stories a million times before (and perhaps he has). It’s far more intriguing to see Owen himself, talk about his childhood, talk about what Disney movies means – and the lessons they teach him. Or his mother talk of her fears for her son as a child. Most interesting may be Owen’s older brother Walter – who opens up about his fears of what will happen when his parents die, and he’ll have more responsibility for Owen than ever. It’s also through Walter that the film starts to address the limitations of Owen’s Disney education. Walter tries, during a game of mini-golf, to talk to Owen about sex (Owen does have a girlfriend – but they haven’t gone anywhere close to that far) – but Owen seems oblivious to what Walter is trying to say. Later, in an interview with the filmmakers, Walter expresses some frustration – “In a Disney movie, aside from the last kiss, they don’t really address relationship or sex” – aside from showing Owen Disney porn, he doesn’t know how to proceed. One of the social workers who work with Owen, preparing him to move out on his own, puts it’s more bluntly “Life isn’t a Disney movie”.

 

These elements are, I think, necessary for Life, Animated to work as well as it does. Without them, the film would be an “inspirational” documentary, about one man’s triumph over autism. Life, Animated is still inspirational – but it’s more grounded in reality than one would expect – Disney movies have certainly helped Owen, but they only go so far – the rest will be up to him, and what happens to him, will have little to do with Disney movies.

 

Directed by Roger Ross Williams (God Loves Uganda), Life, Animated is a fine documentary about Owen and his life. There are wonderful animated sequence – that grow more colorful and complex as the film progresses, and Owen comes more and more out of his shell – and the film doesn’t blink away from the challenges Owen has faced, and continues to face. Yes, it’s a film good documentary – but it’s a little darker than that as well.

Movie Review: God Loves Uganda

God Loves Uganda
Directed by: Roger Ross Williams.
Written by: Benjamin Gray & Richard Hankin & Roger Ross Williams.

I firmly believe that the vast majority of missionaries – even those ones documented in Roger Ross Williams’ excellent documentary God Loves Uganda – have the best of intentions. For me, an agnostic (or atheist depending on what day you ask me) I would prefer to simply live and let live – meaning basically that I won’t try to convince you that my beliefs are correct, and you don’t try to convince me your beliefs are correct, and we’ll get along just fine. Still, I understand that some people’s religion requires them to “spread the word” to others – and I’m respectful of the people who come to my door and pass out their booklets, or the numerous people who accost me on the streets of Toronto. I don’t think they’re doing any harm. But the people who have gone to Uganda are, in fact, doing harm to people. Evangelical churches like the International House of Prayer (or IHOP) have donated millions of dollars to Uganda to help them build schools, churches and infrastructure – and have undeniably improved the lives on many in Uganda. But in preaching their beliefs, they have also done harm to homosexuals living in Uganda. I think it’s possible to believe that homosexual is wrong – even if I vehemently disagree – and still be respectful. But in Uganda, there is a bill that would criminalize homosexuality to the extent that they can be jailed for life or even executed for being gay. This legislature has its roots in the Evangelical churches in America – and the people who are responsible are either lying or keeping themselves deliberately ignorant of the facts of this bill.

God Loves Uganda is the second of two documentaries released in 2013 about the bill – the other one, Call Me Kuchu – concentrated on gay activists in Uganda. I thought the subject matter of that film was extremely important, but the execution of the documentary left a lot to be desired. God Loves Uganda covers some of the same ground but also different ground as well. And as a documentary is a far better film. If you’re only going to see one of these films, I would recommend that film be God Loves Uganda.

Director Roger Ross Williams strategy in the movie seems to be to provide his interview subjects with enough rope to hang themselves with. We never really hear him pushing his interview subjects too much – except perhaps late in the film when he asks two young missionaries directly what their thoughts on the bill are, and they blame the Western media, not their own work, for misrepresenting the bill. They don’t even know what’s in the bill, they say, which is odd, since the drafter of the bill, and the religious community in Uganda, are not shy about telling you about it – and it’s pretty much exactly the same thing as the Western media who have “misrepresented the bill” say. But that’s the exception – for the most part Williams simply asks for their side of the story, and finds that most of them are all too willing to tell them what they think. If you agree with them, it’s possible to walk away from the movie not overly upset. If you disagree with them, then the film can be downright chilling.

I really don’t have a problem with missionaries going to Africa to help the people there who need help – and if that means they feel the need to share their religion, then so be it. But I cannot help but think that many of these Evangelical churches are hurting as much if not more than they are helping – not just in terms of gay rights, but also in terms of AIDS. The AIDS rate dropped in Uganda during the 1990s, when aid from the Clinton administration supplied condoms to the people of Uganda, who had a large scale advertising program about the benefits of condoms. But under George W. Bush, things changed. Uganda could only get aid if they agreed to “abstinence only” education – which doesn’t work anywhere – not in America, and not in Uganda. The AIDS rate has gone up again, but to the government of Uganda that’s worth it because it means aid they desperately need from the West.

 
God Loves Uganda is one of those documentaries that leaves me sad, mad and more than anything just shaking my head. How any reasonable person could believe that much of what has happened in Uganda makes sense is beyond me. Uganda has a long way to go in terms of gay rights and other social issues. As God Loves Uganda makes clear, so do parts of America.