Thanks to its prime location in downtown NYC and the popularity of the arts programs it provides, Pace University gets plenty of opportunities to house entertainment experiences from media and arts companies all around the city. Universal Pictures at Pace is an advertising club providing some of these experiences by bringing free, pre-release screenings of films to Pace students. Universal Studios sponsors these screenings at little cost, but why does such a huge film corporation do this for us? I’ll tell you why; so that students like me write reviews and go around advertising their movies for them. Many times, the screenings offered to Pace students are of movies that may be hard for Universal to market to adults in NYC. When news came out that a screening was being held for a movie without solely college student characters, I obviously jumped at the opportunity.
Coming in, I knew nearly nothing about the characters, plot, or the movie Green Book in general. I had no idea who Don Shirley was or whether or not the movie was even a genre I was interested in. Through the first few scenes of the film, I was worried that I would be wasting three hours that I should have spent studying after watching the violence and racism immediately portrayed. Little did I know, all of this was fully necessary to the story to come.
The name “Green Book” comes from a hotel guide for African Americans traveling through the south in the heat of segregation in the 1960s. Since so many inns in the south were “white” or “black” accommodating only, the Green Book specified where free African Americans from the north should- or shouldn’t- stay. The movie Green Book explored the stereotypes of nearly all colors, classes, and races during the ’60s by separating privilege from the action. Even though Italian-American Tony Lip acted unintelligently, offensively, and impulsively at times, his natural privilege still far surpassed that of Don Shirley, the African American musical genius that eventually became Lip’s boss.
After watching the film, I was amazed by the depth of the story and the intention behind each moment in the movie. Green Book included a heaviness of the implications of segregation at the time mixed with enough humor and emotional connection through the characters of Lip and Shirley. The audience members are moved to a point of feeling as if they were right there with the characters.
There’s plenty of Oscar talk about Green Book, and rightfully so. Performances by both Viggo Mortensen (Tony Lip) and Mahershala Ali (Don Shirley) were relatable and realistic in their portrayal of human actions and emotions. If there ever was a perfect casting of a film, Green Book surely got close. As mentioned, Green Book included plenty of heartbreaking scenes soon remedied by just enough dry humor to keep the audience hopeful, which I believe was largely thanks to genius directing of Peter Farrelly. As a whole, the screenplay, music (obviously) and adaptation of the true story were a hit. I expect Green Book to fare very well in coming award shows.
If you’re looking for a movie that includes history, drama, comedy, and an incredible sense of artistry, Green Book should be on your list. Especially now, Americans are in need of unity in any form it can be provided. In a moving quote from the movie, “It takes courage to change people’s hearts.” I believe Green Book is continuing to take steps in the right direction.