Passing

Directed by : Rebecca Hall

I am beginning to believe that no one is ever completely happy, free, or safe. 


Spoilers ahead... 


Based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Nella Larsen, Passing is about 2 mixed race women, one is Irene (Tessa Thompson) living as African-American who occasionally passes as 'white' while visiting retail stores, and is married to Brian (Andre Holland) with a son. While other is Clare (Ruth Negga) who permanently lives a lie of being 'white' married to a racist John (Alexander Skarsgard) and is scared for trying a child because it may get born black revealing her real identity. How lives of Irene and Clare changes when a chance encounter between them occurs at a hotel dining place. 

Its a concept I wasn't aware existed actually, so did took a while to get used to. You can see how opposite both characters are, Irene is always worried someone will find her identity with that hat and scared eyes look while Clare is craving to live as black and a reason why she gets drawn to Irene's place in Harlem. The movie reminded me of 'One Night at Miami', the amount of tension constantly building and you are waiting for that moment when hell unleashes but unlike that movie, we never get that in 'Passing', rather we are given a very unusual strange ending that very much made no sense to me almost undoing all the good work done till then. 

I loved the drama and tension of the scene in hotel when John arrives early and Irene finds out how much he hates black having no idea of her own wife's reality, also enjoyed the party sequences involving Clare-Hugh (Bill Camp) conversations and all the meetings that Clare and Irene have, or the closeness Clare builds with Brian leading to Irene having more thoughts building inside her who never looks comfortable when Clare is around. We are never told or shown any flashbacks regarding their friendship during school days. There are 1-2 scenes where subtle hint is thrown that they might be attracted towards each other in past, but its mostly left to imagination.  Both Ruth and specially Tessa gives very good performances. As a first time direction, Rebecca does a pretty decent work, I just wish the ending (even if its same in novel) wasn't where she headed and there were more conflicts thrown in the 2nd act that at times felt meandering along too much to my liking. I do like the fact that the film can be considered as a 'passing' by someone you aren't and not just limited to the 'color' as shown in this story. Worth a watch once. 

My Rating : 6/10



Mass

Directed by : Fran Kranz 

We believed we were good parents. And in some awful, confusing way, we still do. 


Spoilers ahead... 


Two couples, Jay (Jason Isaacs) and Gail (Martha Plimpton), Richard (Reed Birney) and Linda (Ann Dowd) agree to meet at an isolated basement room of a church so they can talk on a tragic incident that lead to the death of their sons. There was a mass shooting at school by son of Richard and Linda, Hayden who killed many other students including Evan, who was son of Jay and Gail. Clearly, there will be clash of opinions, one leaning on guilt and other on blame. I had not seen trailer or even read the story so going blind into the film meant I had to wait like 20 so minutes before it became clear what this meeting set up going on is about. 

Its not an easy watch, simply because the topic this covers and as I have said many times before, the horror incident becomes even more horrific when told just by words without showing the visuals. Almost 95% of the movie takes place in that room, all 4 leads do commendable work, each of them getting their moments to put forward their thoughts, right or wrong, is ofcourse subjective, you can always take sides. The point is whose pain is deep, the parents whose son for no reason got killed or the parents who couldn't raise their son well enough to become a murderer, or maybe you can't really take a side here because 99% of times parents aren't really at fault. 

Its a serious movie which is a reason why after some point I did wanted some respite, some fresh air which we don't really get here with the indoor room setting. Can't blame editing or pace much because you do need time given for all to speak out and not rush out putting their point of views. I didn't understand that outdoor shot they showed many times, and its shown in the last scene too, whatever meaning it had. Definately one of very good movies of last year, even if its not easy one to sit through with wonderful performances from all leads, specially Jason and Martha. 

My Rating : 7/10