Brother John

I first saw this movie when it was released in the UK and although similar politically to most of his movies of that time and with the usual script aimed at making Sidney Poitier appear to be the super human that we all know he is.It was still in my opinion one of his more meaningful but less celebrated rolls with little or no publicity when it was released in the UK.Having said that,when you think of the standard of performance Mr Poitier gives in the movie and the talent the casting agent managed to muster(all fine journeymen actors)as a supporting cast one wonders why I feel I am the only person in the UK who saw this movie.The other major plus is the soundtrack(I would love to have a copy)it is so good.

I only saw the movie once, back when it came out, but it left an impression on me. John is an enigma, one we discover more puzzling things about but never anything that is a solid answer. Like Will Geer's character, we can guess things about John and the reasons for his return, but we will never know the answers.... At least not until John chooses to act.

By the way, the film makes an interesting mirror to IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT. Consider that film as if it were an X-Files episode....

Odd Ernest Kinoy screenplay involving a mysteriously reticent black man of very few words returning to his Southern hometown for the funeral of his sister, dating a pretty schoolteacher but also getting involved in heated racial confrontations between the black residents and the redneck law. Peculiar, offbeat to say the least, yet hardly engrossing or emotional aside from the two big confrontations (one racially-charged, the other over a woman). Will Geer gives an irritatingly obtuse, owl-like performance as the doctor who originally delivered "Brother John", and who now senses something magical about him. In the lead, Sidney Poitier holds the screen with resplendence; he still has all the charisma and inner-fire of his popular 1960s roles, and allows us to see it (or perceive it) at perfectly-timed intervals. However, this cloudy mood piece--with timely undercurrents of oppression--isn't an exciting or gripping picture. Some have lauded the film for its dreamy ambiance, others will feel this approach ultimately works against the characters. A mixed-bag, though one with a beautiful score by Quincy Jones and expressive Gerald Perry Finnerman cinematography. ** from ****

No doubt about it this may be the strangest role Sidney Poitier ever took on. But at the same time he did a haunting performance as Brother John whose arrival in town for his sister's funeral is cause for speculation in the southern town he hails from.

Will Geer the town doctor upon hearing Poitier is in town says that Poitier has never returned but for family members when they die, both parents and now his sister. He keeps in no touch, but always knows.

He muses out loud to his district attorney son Bradford Dillman who in turn talks to redneck sheriff Ramon Bieri and let's say they perform their own highly illegal investigation because this man hasn't done anything. But he's a well dressed black man with good speech and manners so who knows what he could be up to. There's a strike going on in town at a factory which is their largest employer and he could be some leftwing agitator, a communist who knows.

Poitier isn't getting along any better with the black people he grew up with. They think he's a snob and the girl he dated at one time Beverly Todd can't figure him out.

Poitier is one of those humans who apparently has been granted certain insights the rest of us don't have. It's not in their nature to make really close friends. We've seen this in several films, two I can cite are The Passing Of The Third Floor Back with Conrad Veidt and one who was granted a bit more than insight to is Michael Clarke Duncan in The Green Mile.

The beautiful thing about a film like Brother John is that you can put almost any kind of interpretation on it. Watch it and create your own.

Sidney Poitier gives an exemplary performance in a film in which the viewer is kept in suspense as to why and who. Right to the very end, the viewer never knows for sure what the visitor to a small town really is. The supporting cast is excellent and Will Geer and Sidney Poitier are outstanding.