Dutchman

Strange, allegorical drama about the struck-up-on-the-spot relationship between two passengers in a New York City subway car: a black man (Al Freeman Jr.) and a white woman (Shirley Knight) flirt with each other and engage in adult banter. As they alternately beguile and exasperate each other, their conversation reflects the sexual and racial tensions between them. The film is set entirely in the subway car, making for a claustrophobic atmosphere. Knight overacts some of the time (ok, a LOT of the time), laughing loudly, rolling her eyes, and touching Freeman in places where the NYC Transit Authority would probably prefer its patrons to not be touched, but she's never less than interesting and Freeman's more-subdued performance balances things out (although he gets to deliver a blistering, angry monologue near the end). DUTCHMAN's shocking climax is a disturbing culmination of the provocative racial and social themes presented in the film; the film's hour-long length allows for these ideas to have immediate impact.

When you first watch the movie, it seems pretty out there, with okay acting and an overly tragic ending seen miles in advance. . .But the script (orignially a two act play) helped shape our nation and our literature today.

The play's by Amiri Baraka, who still writes today. At the time of it's debut on Broadway, Baraka was a highly acclaimed playwright/poet -- still is for that matter. Written in 1964 at the turning of a nation the play held up the ideals of many African-Americans as well as the feelings of many European-Americans in the nation. It ruffled feathers, screams out the beliefs of both sides, and was honest. The play was somewhat autobiographical (Baraka was born LeRoi Jones in New Jersey, went to college, and was married to - though soon after this play divorced - a white woman), and shows the starts of a man who was on his way to becoming an inspirational factor of the Black movement.

This version of the play is worth viewing if you are interested in the tensions of this time period, or knowing a bit more about African-American ideas of the time. I gave it a six due to its historical connections rather than acting or directorial credibilities.

Just under an hour in length, Dutchman is one brutal, intense subway ride in a city that is famous for them. A tract on prejudice by playwright LeRoi Jones (aka Amiri Baraka) and basically a 2-character play, think The Gin Game gone ugly with Shirley Knight on a mission of total destruction.

Put together,Clay ( Al Freeman Jr.), is on his way to a house party when Lula (Knight) on a platform finds him in her sights inside a subway car. They make casual eye contact but Lula is a type one gives more than a cursory glance. She boards and begins to seduce and slow torture Clay who now faces a breaking point.

Knight is both hot and terrifying as she plays vicious head games with hapless Clay, first attracted but eventually repelled by her sadistic humiliation of him. Freeman also has some fine moments, exhibiting rage but in the end finds himself no match for the banshee on a quest, Knight, giving one of the best and unrecognized female performances of the 60s.

Briskly directed by Anthony Harvey and excellently shot with claustrophobic doom by Gerry Turpin made all the more amazing by the fact it was shot in 5 days in England for NY, Dutchman deserves its cigar. Taut stuff.