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Friday, 18 July 2003 |
  One of the very finest examples from the golden age of American stage drama, "A Raisin in the Sun" was adapted for the screen by its playwright, with virtually all of its principal Broadway cast intact. That makes it a genuine and most appreciated rarity. If the filmmaking isn't as sure as the brilliant script or as inspired as the blazingly vivid performances of the cast, it hardly matters matters in the end. "A Raisin in the Sun" shines anyway, an uncommonly powerful drama that time has, in many ways, enriched.
The story concerns the dynamics in an African American family named The Youngers, three generations living in a cramped tenement apartment on Chicago's south side as the 50's are ending. The God-fearing, salt of the earth matriarch (Claudia McNeil) waits on a $10,000 insurance check, unsure of what to do with the windfall to best benefit the family. Her son Walter (Sidney Poitier), tired of working as a chaffeur with so little to show for it, is seized with desperation to invest the money in a liquor store. His independent and socially conscious sister Beneatha (Diana Sands) wants to be sent to medical school with the money, despite the odds. This is, after all, before the civil rights advances of the 60s, when such a goal was not common for a woman of any color. His wife (Ruby Dee) states no claim on the money, but clearly would be happy if the family moved out of the slums into a better place.
The story is simple but it's remarkable how much social commentary and thematic content is within, and yet the piece doesn't feel the least bit authorial or pedantic. It flows and speaks with ease. Playwright Lorraine Hansberry, a mere 29 when the play premiered, makes the expected point about the tolls of racism - initially that is what made the play a watershed cultural event in 1959 - but there is so much more here besides.
"Mama: Oh, so now it's life. Money is life. Once upon a time freedom used to be life now it's money.
I guess the world really do change . . .
Walter: No it was always money, Mama. We just didn't know about it."
"A Raisin in the Sun" is in large part about The American Dream and what it means to be excluded from it. It deserves its reputation as a landmark in theatre and in African American culture, but its themes are resonant for all. Ultimately, it's a profoundly moral tale about people finding dignity in an environment that tries to deny them of it, and for that reason the material remains timeless and universal.
The performances are magnificent. These actors all had the benefit of many many months doing these roles on stage, and it shows in how seamlessly they perform as an ensemble. Everyone is working at the same pitch. The roles seem lived in, so much so that there is more drama and history in just a close-up of a face here than most movies give you in total. I could tell you that Claudia McNeil, as Mama, is such a forceful presence on film that you can feel every wrinkle on her face. When she says that she comes from generations of slaves and laborers, you believe it instantly and feel the residual pain in it. I could mention Ruby Dee, who is entirely truthful as Walter's wife, or Diana Sands, who nails the tricky character of Beneatha perfectly.
If one performance has to be singled out though, it is Sidney Poitier's. His portrayal of Walter is revelatory, by turns rageful, despondent, mean, arrogant, ingratiating, and gentle. It's a fully realized portrait, anger and battered pride warring just under the surface through all his actions. If you sit back and analyze how much of it is brought through the layers of his performance and not explicitly in the script, it can't be denied what an achievement this performance is.
In the end my quibbles with the movie are minor. What is here is so close to the original play that I wish the director had been more rigorous, and had maintained all of the action inside the Younger home as it was on stage. As it is, the scenes that venture outside the house almost break the momentum, and work against the feeling of claustrophobia. I would have liked to have seen a little more consistency with the camerawork as well: sometimes it's expressive and telling, while other times it just about stands a couple of paces back and takes in the action indifferently.
Starring: Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Diana Sands, Claudia McNeil, Lou Gossett Jr., John Fiedler, Ivan Dixon.
Director: Daniel Petrie
Studio: Columbia/Tri-Star
Rated: UR
Running Time: 128 minutes
Release: 1961
Reviewer: Patrick Lee |
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