The Green Book
A fabulous movie. This film is more than road trip/buddy
movie. There are revelations from both sides of the racial divide. The Green
Book refers to “The Negro Motorist Green Book”, a guidebook for African-American travelers to help them find motels and restaurants in the south that
accept them. Tony Lip (a.k.a.-Tony Vallelonga), Viggo Mortensen, is the
driver and bodyguard hired by Dr. Don Shirly, Mahersharla Ali, accompanying him
on his two month piano recital tour in the deep south.
Viggo Mortensen inhabits his character. He gains copious
amounts of weight. For all of Tony’s faults and crudeness he is sincere and loyal. He says what he means and
means what he says. Viggo plays the role confidently and with ease. However,
when some one has to have their face busted Tony does a good job. He is a prodigious
eater. In one scene Tony folds up an entire pizza and chomps down it. I never
saw no one on Mulberry street eat a whole pizza like that… maybe half.
Ali plays Dr. Shirly (PhD) a person deeply uncomfortable in his own skin.
He is highly educated, a virtuoso and eccentric. His world is insulated. He
knows Chopin and Liszt, but never heard of Little Richard. His performance is
tense and has an unsettled persona. He initially disdains Tony’s manner and petty larceny. Their relationship
evolves from employer/employee to two guys on the road. For all his refinement Dr. Shirly lacks a sureness that comes
naturally to Tony. In one scene they stop on the highway and across the road share
croppers are tending the field. The share croppers incredulously stare at Dr. Shirly, a black man in a suit
driven by a white man. Shirly is transfixed but he cannot relate; he does not
want to relate. The share croppers are a
lineage he disdains. Dr. Shirly has his demons which are tamed nightly drinking a bottle of Cutty Sark.
This is basically a two character movie, which makes it
great. The magic of the film is that during their journey these two polar opposites
come to respect and care for each other. Both have their faults. Given Tony’s
working class background and his association with the “Boys” he harbors prejudices accepted by his class. With Dr. Shelby’s
lofty position it is natural for him to look down at his lessors. Overcoming
these limitations is the heat of the film.
p.s. The movie is a dramatization of
actual people.
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