Passing

"We're all passing for something or other, aren't we?" Irene (Tessa Thompson)

Director Rebecca Hall's successful full-length debut, Passing, shows her artistic inclination to depict women on the verge of breaking away. Irene is a Black woman in the 1920's who could "pass" for white but just spends some time in the white world, being served and accepted in part because she is light skinned.

Now, her friend from her youth, Clare, consciously passes for white, and marries a racist who would kill if he knew his wife were Black. Although nothing shattering happens through most of the story, the racial divide is pronounced between white uptown and Harlem, where Irene and her husband, Brian, a doctor, live in a brownstone with a black maid and the two children he tries to prepare for a racist world they have yet to overcome.

As Clare continues to mingle with Irene's Black social life, Irene quietly assesses Clare's free-spirit and seems gently attracted to Clare. Yet, those feelings are Hall's quiet way of emphasizing the multifaced societal changes in a now truly reconstructed way.

Hall uses a crisp black and white image to accentuate the stark racial differences and the sterile laboratory-like world of incremental societal change. It's also an effective period enhancer. The title "Passing" carries multiple meanings fraught with the dark and light of good clashing with evil.

I couldn't help thinking of Fitzgerald's Gatsby, himself an interloper having romantic notions ill-suited to a society he crashes with dire consequences. Hall has caught the ironies and ambiguities of a society in change.

It isn't all pretty but generally a gorgeous palette with which promising neophyte Hall paints. Isn't it the truth: "I'm beginning to believe that no one is ever completely happy, free, or safe"? Irene

One of the best movies of the year.

My Review - Passing streaming on Netflix

My Rating 8/10

Passing is a very unusual story which I thought was fascinating, educational and quite beautiful to watch.

The film is based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Nella Larsen, and its title refers to African-Americans who had skin color light enough to be perceived as white, referred to as "passing." I was fascinated from the opening scene when we see Irene Redfield, a refined, upper-class 1920s woman, finding a breezy refuge from a hot summer day in the grand tearoom of New York City's Drayton Hotel. Across the room, she spots a blond woman staring her down, Clare.

Irene who is obviously "Passing" just for the day at first is alarmed that she may have been sprung until Clare approaches and she recognises that Claire who is now blonde and obviously passing unrecognisable as Afro American is her childhood friend so they reminisce and bring each other up to date on their new middle to upper class lives .

Clare invites Irene back to the hotel where she is staying with her husband, John, on his business trip. Clare explains that after her father died, she was raised by two white aunts and married him very young. They are interrupted by John, who openly despises and degrades African-Americans, unaware of his wife's racial background or that Irene is "passing" for the day.

Clare is determined to re enter her friend Irene's life as she longs for contact again with her race and Irene who is married to Brian a successful Doctor and living in relative splendour in Harlem has social contacts with the community she has hidden from since her marriage to John.

That's enough no spoilers the story takes off in directions that are surprising.

The two actresses in Passing are both beautiful and talented Tessa Thompson as Irene is so elegant and understated and Ruth Negga as Claire is a jazz baby of the 1920's both wear some beautiful fashion by costume designer Marci Rodgers.

Filming began in November 2019 written and produced, and directed by Rebecca Hall in her feature directorial debut.

With less than a month to go before filming production was set to begin, Rebecca Hall was still $500,000 short on her desired $10 million budget, and had to apply for two grants to cover the difference.

The film is in monochrome. Benjamin Lee of The Guardian praised the use of a 4:3 aspect ratio as in this film it was "both fitting and practical given a smaller budget.

I think what I found most interesting in Passing was the unusual aspect that's not often depicted that of wealthy middle class Afro Americans set in my favourite era the 1920's and living lives of privilege while on the other side of town the contrast of the poorer members of their community live in relative poverty.

Their affluent lifestyles mirrored the wealthy white families they also employed black servants and attended charity functions , their homes were stylish and they dressed beautifully.

I had to research a little more after watching Passing and found a few interesting pieces about the African American society in the 1920s that expressed a strong sense of cultural identity. The Harlem Renaissance was the center of African American literary and artistic activity during this period.

W. E. B. DuBois. The American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist and author. Wrote an essay in 1903 called "The Talented Tenth." The black elite in New York were educated men and women who "aspired to an identity that reached beyond the local and the national to a cosmopolitanism that would distinguish them both from the mass of impoverished black New Yorkers and also from the wealthy, educated- but racially estranged - white men and women with whom they otherwise shared much" It is ironic that the black elite wanted to both distinguish themselves from their poor brethren and also uplift the poor blacks.

I really enjoyed Passing and definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys an original and unique experience in Cinema.

Passing had me worried going in. With Rebecca Hall's directorial debut, this seemed like something that could go well or horribly wrong. What we've all learned from this is that Rebecca Hall is no longer just a good actress, but also a director. A novel adaption, the film follows the unexpected reunion of two high school friends, whose renewed acquaintance ignites a mutual obsession that threatens both of their carefully constructed realities. There's a lot to digest here. The script is really thought provoking. It deals with race, gender, sexuality, and much more - sometimes even without mentioning it. Today's climate has evolved so much since the 20s (I believe it's the 20s), but this all still feels so relevant. Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga give incredible performances. Truly some of the best work they've done. André Holland has a supporting role that he also does well with. Every frame has something to say, whether it's symbolic or straightforward. The use of gorgeous black and white cinematography at a 4:3 aspect ratio speaks so much. The production design is pleasing to look at along with the costumes. It's a really beautiful film to look at. I liked Passing a little more than most. Some have felt the slowness is too much and that it's too quiet. I did think it take a minute to get into but I thought this was extremely well made. A minor issue I had was with the sound. They all talk so quietly that it can be hard to hear sometimes. Hall explained during the Q&A that she intended it to be quiet, but it could've used more work. Honestly, I think we have an early awards contender for next year. The film speaks about race in a way no other has.

"Passing" is an admirable freshman directorial effort from actress Rebecca Hall, but the film feels too tightly controlled to ever fully come alive.

Ruth Negga (looking a bit like Joan Blondell) and especially Tessa Thompson give strong performances as two old friends and maybe more who run into each other again in New York City after years apart. Negga's character is passing for white and has married a vile biggot. Thomspson's character is in a sexless marriage with a doctor and is living a well to do life in Harlem. The act of passing in a racial context is the catalyst for the movie's plot, but the film explores the ways in which all of us are passing for something. It asks the question: Can those we love ever truly know us, and further, can we ever truly know ourselves?

A large number of Americans right now seem to be having trouble dealing with reality as it actually exists, so I thought a movie about people creating their own realities in an effort to make their lives better, or at least more comfortable, would feel more immediate and tuned in to the times. But Hall keeps such tight control of the reins that the film can't breathe. It's like she wanted so much to avoid any missteps with this sensitive issue that she inadvertently sucked the life out of it.

Still, the movie does have some things to recommend it. I've mentioned the performances, but it also looks gorgeous, filmed in pristine black and white by Eduard Grau. I'm excited to see what Hall does next, because she has a terrific eye. She just needs to relax.

Grade: B.

It's beautiful and stylish but it's disappointing. It has a really interesting idea and seems promising at first but then takes a stupid boring turn. In spite of some powerful lines, the screenplay is dull. Performances are very good. It has some good parts but it's flawed, it's a missed opportunity.