Green Book (5 Stars)

Racism plays a major part in this film, but it isn't a film that supports racism or criticises racism. People might read into it the message they want to see, but it's just a film that portrays racism as it was in 1962. When the most blatantly racist scenes are shown towards the end of the film you can either think of the racists as quaint or stupid. Make up your own mind how you want to see it. "Green Book" isn't a film that takes the moral high ground.

It's the story of two men who come from different worlds who become unlikely friends. They both have different problems in their lives, and it's these problems that draw them together. They can recognise one another's problems easier than their own. Tony Vallelonga is an uneducated but streetwise Italian bouncer who's struggling to make ends meet. Dr. Don Shirley is a man with three PhD's who speaks (at least) three languages fluently, but he feels lonely and cut off from the world. When I first watched the film I immediately felt drawn to Dr. Shirley as a man I could relate to. After watching the film again today I can finally see Tony's qualities, things that I unfortunately don't have.

Tony Vallelonga was a racist, but it was out of ignorance. He led a secluded life, not mixing socially with black people. After spending two months with a cultivated, highly educated black man he came to see that the generalisations and prejudices that he had against black people were wrong. But that's just a message I take from the film. You're free to interpret it however you wish.

Success Rate:  + 12.0

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