Green Book

I didnt know much about this movie. Was pleasantly surprised but felt it was a little lighter than it needed to be. Of course, wonderful performances by Ali and Vigo!

Great movie based on a true story!

Pros: The movie was engaging. There were no moments where we were wondering when this seen will end. The actors embodied the characters very well and delivered their lines in a superb manner. Good story line. The movie is not a documentary about the life of Dr. Don Shirley. It is documenting an Italian driver/body guard’s experience, who was hired by the record company to accompanying an African American musician through the Deep South during the sixties and insure the success of this journey. It simplifies racism for an audience that otherwise may not have wanted to see the movie. There are many tragically comedic moments and some moments showing the dichotomy of a situation. While the story does not have an academic level of documentation, at the very least it motivates an intellectual curiosity to want to learn more about Dr. Shirley. The movie has very well written dialogue, such as “the world is full of lonely people who are waiting for the other person to make a move”, another one “genius is not enough, it takes courage..” (I maybe paraphrasing). I particularly appreciated the lack of heavy musical background which made it possible to concentrate on the essence of the movie. Cons: Not at all appropriate for young audience (even if they are older than 13) or family viewing. Swear words were used. It felt like if the director was taking a cheap and easy stab by relying heavily on negative Italian stereotype. The driver character played by non-Italian was made to look stupid and illiterate. But never the less had the ability to navigate successfully through difficult situations. Dr. Shirley was portrayed as a homosexual. Not sure if this is an authentic depiction, however this diversion in the story was sudden and unexpected, it did not seem real. Especially when Dr. Shirley in the movie stated his marriage failed because he could not be a piano player and a husband at the same time. If it is true that he was homosexual, the dialogue at this point should have had some additional discussion of his orientation. Although there was no nudity, I think the movie would have been better if it did not include this unrealistic seen. The end was predictable but I cannot say that I did not enjoy the “feel good” ending.

Great movie

I love this movie, strong message, back in the day story with great performances.

Others have discussed the plot, so I will confine my review to impressions and what I came away with after watching the movie. First: this is a study of contrasting characters. The beginning of the movie portrays two main characters who, on the surface, are polar opposites. As the movie unfolds you begin to see how alike both are in certain ways. To be sure, they are still worlds apart, but one striking similarity that I observed is Dr. Shirley exhibited both high intelligence and education. He imparts some of his knowledge to Tony who proves to be intelligent enough to grow (to a point) intellectually. Both also have strong personal codes and integrity. Dr. Shirley comes across as refined; Tony comes across as profane, unpolished and streetwise - but unyielding in his commitment to keeping his word and other matters of honor. True, they are still worlds apart, but the core similarities are there if you observe closely enough. Second: there are a number of themes, some subtle, some not so much. Both men came to not only respect each other by the end of the movie, but also lifelong friends. Tony was literally educated by Dr. Shirley, and came away with a different way of seeing the world (although there were moments of interaction between the two that portrayed Tony as having a wider and deeper view of things than his crude character would otherwise indicate.) Dr. Shirley was affected by Tonys views and actions, but from what I gleaned from the film, not nearly as dramatically. Tony actually grew as a human being, as well as intellectually; Dr. Shirley changed in outlook, but maintained his core strengths and impeccable manners and standards. Third: I loved the cinematography. I was fourteen when the events in the movie happened and the colors and feel were not only authentic; I felt as though I was transported back in time. To be honest, I was ignorant of the layers of racism that permeated American society during that time. In that respect I could empathize with Tonys oblivious notions and beliefs expressed during the film. Perhaps empathize is the wrong word - I understood Tonys frame of reference because I was equally oblivious back then. Both the writing and the acting were some of the best Ive seen in recent movies. It is a deep and nuanced character study, drawn from real life events and people, and things move at real life speed. Slow. Deep. If you love action, romance, humor - you probably will NOT like this movie. On the other hand, if you like excellent story telling with layers of nuance, with the added bonus of being based on actual events, you will probably love this film.

Great movie

Perfect. New product, delivered quick!

Green Book will be notable in movie history if for no other reason than being the 2018 Best Picture winner at the Oscars. I stopped watching the Oscars years ago because they seem to delight in choosing the obscure or films that kowtow to popular fads, but Green Book is one of the rare exceptions that the Oscars got right. This film is the shared story of two disparate characters. The first is Don Shirley, an gifted African-American pianist, trained in Russia, connoisseur of languages, with an apartment above Carnegie Hall. The other was Tony Vallelonga, a rough-and-tumble Italian-American bouncer with connections to organized crime and a tremendous capacity to eat. When Shirley decides to undertake a tour of the Deep South in the early 1960s, he knows he will need protection. On the other hand, the nightclub Tony works at is closed for repairs and he needs a job for the next few months. After interviewing multiple people for the position of chauffeur, bodyguard, and bagman, Don eventually decides to hire Tony. At the beginning of their journey, there is a significant amount of friction between the two. Don is highly cultured, while Tony is salt of the earth; more notably, being of two different races leads Tony to make some insensitive, albeit not malicious, comments. Soon enough, however, Tony helps Don get out of tough situations and they bond. Some of the best scenes in the film are when Don performs. The piano work was actually done by Kris Bowers, but Mahershala Ali carries himself with confidence as he mimics the movements. Despite his obvious talent, Don is never fully accepted by white society. As Don himself notes, he feels too white to fit into black society and too black to join white society. This internal conflict reaches an emotional resolution in one of the final scenes of the film. There has been some criticism from Don Shirleys family that the film whitewashes aspects of his life. Leaving aside the question of whether Shirley was estranged from his kin (I get the impression he was), no story is able to incorporate every single perspective. Tony Vallelonga clearly held Don Shirley in high regard and viewed him as a friend, an attitude many white people fifty years ago were incapable of. More importantly, even if the story were entirely fictional, I think it offers a valuable lesson that we as human beings can learn from others whose experiences (and hence their perspectives) are different from our own. If nothing else, the film acquainted me with Don Shirley, who I had never heard of before, but whose music I now own on vinyl. The moments of levity, drama, and musical virtuosity in this film make it a great way to pass an evening. I highly recommend that everyone take the time to enjoy the performances of Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen.

The general story line is based on a true story of Dr Don Shirley, a prodigious pianist who hires an Italian bouncer to drive him into the “deep south” on a musical tour in the early ‘60s, in an age of segregation. Coming from an Italian heritage, I can confess that my culture is guilty of having had a history of exclusivity that still lingers to this present day. It’s nothing personal, it’s an Italian thing. Didn’t matter if you’re Black or White, it was if you were or were not a ‘Goomba’. Some of the terms used in the ‘60s are pejoratives today, particularly the n-word, which I’m relieved was refrained from use. The now derogatory term is derived from a reference to folks who hail from Niger. Instead, the script substitutes ‘Black’, a term yet unused in that generational time period, but is the English equivalent for the Latin word negro — which, incidentally, is still used as a nickname by some Latino families (pronounced: nay’-gro) Spoiler alert, there is an interesting scene where Tony drives into Kentucky for the first time and discovers a Kentucky Fried Chicken fast food restaurant and he gets a bucket, to the dismay of the proper Don Shirley. I can personally vouch that I myself remember the first time eating fried chicken and being schooled by my family that it is fully appropriate, and not considered bad manners, to eat chicken without utensils. It’s the one main course that we are permitted to eat using our fingers themselves. Even so, the bigger story here is that as they toured further into the south, there were interesting lessons in the distinctions of venues. For example, Don Shirley was perfectly welcomed at the culturally blended dinner table where the host served up what was thought to be something Don Shirley must like. Even so, Shirley might have been offended of their stereotypical presumptions for this menu selection without having the earlier exposure to the Kentucky Fried Chicken incident prior in the storyline. Later in the film, this becomes more poignant as they learn that in the deeper south, the Virtuoso pianist wasn’t welcomed to sit and to simply eat in the same dining room with everyone. It’s unconscionable and bewildering that identity politics still haunt us today. We shy to speak of varying strengths or weaknesses that tend to accompany different people groups. Personally, I don’t like the term ‘race’ which is misleading since we are all a part of the only one human race on the planet. There are different nationalities, cultures, creeds, and complexions, but there is not a second race existent on God’s green earth, to borrow a phrase used in the film. A good film uses the feature time to build the background story of the characters. It makes sense to me to begin in this worldview of the driver’s background, Tony the Italian, as he is a prototype of the ethnocentric world that they lived in of various migrants in America. That world gets enchantingly swept into the world of the story’s main subject, Don Shirley, an accomplished Black pianist who is the benefactor and employer of a recent layed-off bouncer, Tony, to drive him on a musical tour into the southern countryland of the U.S... which leads to my favorite scene. The movie poster shows our two stars sitting in the Cadillac, almost as if posing for a promotional billboard advertisement. In fact, we find that it’s actually a scene from the film, and maybe the most phenomenal moment, without a word of dialogue. After Tony refills water into an overheated engine and then opens the door for his impeccable employer, both their gazes fall onto the eyes of Black harvesters looking back from the fields. It’s as if time stops! Maybe this explains why the piano maestro, it is reported, actually did not want the biography shared while he was still living. When we as individuals begin to open up and expose our vulnerabilities, we find that we are really more alike deep down than we are different. We are all trying to ease our sufferings, only to find that there are others in the community who are facing even greater inequities. Tony isn’t particularly skilled in any trade, so he’s reduced to being a bouncer without much of a retirement program. Don Shirley is a financially independent and one-of-a-kind, successful pianist, but faces reprehensible discrimination. Then there’s the ethnic workers tilling the land: men and women, young and old. Looking into those eyes, the two main characters in this biographical movie ultimately realize their own multitude of ethical deviations, like Tony’s temper and total disregard to steal or toss waste out into the streets; and for Don Shirley those ethical challenges include finding solace in a bottle of scotch and not reaching out toward his estranged brother, the only surviving family member of his family.