Green Book - Zelena knjiga -movie review

The title of the film Green Book comes from the title of The Negro Motorist Green Book, a travel guide that served African Americans for a safe journey through American segregation. The guide contains a list of hotels that do not care about the skin color of their guests. Our heroes, faced with the dangers of racism, will rely on her and each other to survive a journey that will change their lives. The plot of the film is set in 1962 and we follow Tony Valelong (Viggo Mortensen), a security guard at a nightclub. His bar is closed for two months and he is looking for a new job. He got the best offer from Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali), a pianist who is expecting a concert tour in the south of the USA. Don is an African-American, which means that potential problems await him on the trip, and Tony represents the right man for his companion. Tony is not thrilled to work for a black man, but he accepts the job and goes on tour.

At first glance, the somewhat arrogant erudite and rude man do not go hand in hand - Don is educated and brought up, while Tony is a practical and proud man from the street who solves everything with rudeness. The two of them have totally opposite attitudes towards life and ideals. However, while suffering and witnessing great injustices on their journey, the two of them rely on each other and thus find respect for the talents they possess. Over time, their relationship develops into a friendship that will change their lives.

There are several angles from which this story could have been told. The authors followed the line of least resistance and the main character is a bodyguard with prejudices, who realizes that someone could be his friend regardless of skin color. I say the line of least resistance, because the story would be much more serious and relevant if it was told from the perspective of a pianist. Thus, the script focuses on the easier and more emotional side of the story, ignoring the harder and more complicated one. However, that didn't bother me at all, on the contrary - I'm tired of too many films dealing with systematic racism, so this quarrelsome story with this topic suited me very well. The author trio, consisting of Tony Valelonga's son, Brian Hayes Curry and director Peter Farrell, takes a passive approach in presenting racism. Their primary goal is to show the evolution of both our characters and their relationship, and that goal has been successfully performed. Indirectly, we see that prejudices and discrimination from 50 years ago have changed, thanks to people like Tony, who are ready to open their minds and their hearts.

Initially, Tony was presented as a character who, apart from street resourcefulness, has no real talents. Also, one scene from the very beginning is enough to see how full of prejudice towards African-Americans it is. In addition to the money, he accepts Shirley's job because he doesn't see it as a threat, but that doesn't stop him from taking his wallet with him in one of the scenes when he gets out of the car. That scene is even more impressive to me than the first one, because this time Tony had the opportunity to see how benevolent Shirley is - Tony doesn't even offer him an apology, because he expects his boss to understand that. Shirley, on the other hand, strives to preserve her dignity while facing constant humiliation. According to him, the rich from the south listen to his music because they feel more cultured, but they are no different from the workers from their fields. Shirley does not leave kindness even when she suffers the worst discrimination and she really has my admiration for self-control. The fact is that the story would have been more effective if it had been told from his perspective, but we indirectly see the evolution of his character as well - he finally realizes that his music alone cannot change centuries-old beliefs and deep-seated prejudices.

I have had a high opinion of Vig Mortensen's acting qualities for a long time, and he showed them once again in this film. The man is a Dane, and he presented a totally convincing American of Italian origin. On the other hand, Mahershala Ali almost imperceptibly gives great support to the main character, he doesn't stand out too much while sitting in the back seat, and it is precisely in that unobtrusive strong impression that his quality is reflected. But he played very good roles, he won the Oscar for the supporting role (Moonlight) and he is one of the main reasons why I have confidence in the third season of the True Detective series. Green Book is a film that takes us on an interesting, emotional and surprisingly easy ride, although it deals with a sensitive topic - a simple but also unique biographical story that Vigo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali breathe life into.

Naslov filma Green Book potiče od naziva knjige The Negro Motorist Green Book, turističkog vodiča koji je afro-amerikancima služio za sigurno putovanje kroz američku segregaciju. Vodič sadrži spisak hotela kojima nije bitna boja kože njihovih gostiju. Naši junaci, suočeni sa opasnostima vezanim za rasizam, osloniće se na nju i jedan na drugog kako bi preživeli putovanje koje će im promeniti živote.

Radnja filma je smeštena u 1962. godinu i pratimo Tonija Valelongu , radnika obezbeđenja u noćnom klubu. Njegov lokal je zatvoren na dva meseca i u potrazi je za novim poslom. Najbolju ponudu dobija od Dona Širlija , pijaniste koga očekuje koncertna tura po jugu SAD-a. Don je afro-amerikanac, što znači da ga na putovanju očekuju potencijalni problemi, a Toni predstavlja pravog čoveka za njegovog saputnika. Toni nije oduševljen time da radi za crnca, ali prihvata posao i kreću na turneju.

Na prvi pogled, pomalo nadmeni erudita i grubijan nikako ne idu jedan uz drugog – Don je školovan i vaspitan, dok je Toni praktičan i ponosan čovek sa ulice koji sve rešava grubošću. Njih dvojica poseduju totalno suprotstavljene stavove prema životu i idealima. Međutim, dok na svom putovanju trpe i svedoče velikim nepravdama, njih dvojica se oslanjaju jedan na drugog i na taj način pronalaze poštovanje prema talentima koje poseduju. Vremenom, njihov odnos se razvija u prijateljstvo koje će im promeniti živote.

Postoji više uglova iz kojih je ova priča mogla biti ispričana. Autori su išli linijom manjeg otpora i glavni lik je telohranitelj sa predrasudama, koji shvata da bi mu neko mogao biti prijatelj bez obzira na boju kože. Kažem linija manjeg otpora, jer bi priča bila mnogo ozbiljnija i relevantnija da je ispričana iz perspektive pijaniste. Ovako, scenario se fokusira na lakšu i emotivniju stranu priče, ignorišući onu težu i komplikovaniju. Međutim, to mi uopšte nije zasmetalo, naprotiv – umoran sam od previše filmova koji se bave sistematskim rasizmom, pa mi je ovako svarljiva priča sa ovom tematikom baš lepo legla.

Autorski trio, koji čine sin Tonija Valelonge, Brajan Hejs Kari i režiser Piter Fareli, uzima pasivan pristup u predstavljanju rasizma. Njihov primarni cilj je prikaz evolucije kako naših karaktera, tako i njihovog odnosa, i taj cilj je uspešno izveden. Posredno vidimo da su se predrasude i diskriminacija od pre 50-ak godina promenile, upravo zahvaljujući ljudima kao što je Toni, koji su spremni da otvore svoj razum i svoje srce.

U početku, Toni je predstavljen kao lik koji, osim ulične snalažljivosti, nema pravih talenata. Takođe, dovoljna je jedna scena sa samog početka da vidimo koliko je pun predrasuda prema afro-amerikancima. Pored novca, prihvata posao kod Širlija jer ga ne vidi kao pretnju, ali ga to ne sprečava da ponese svoj novčanik sa sobom u jednoj od scena kada izlazi iz auta. Ta scena mi je još upečatljivija od one prve, jer je ovoga puta Toni imao priliku da uvidi koliko je Širli dobroćudan – Toni mu čak ne nudi ni izvinjenje, jer očekuje da njegov šef to razume.

Sa druge strane, Širli se trudi da sačuva dostojanstvo dok se suočava sa konsantnim ponižavanjem. Po njegovim rečima, bogataši sa juga slušaju njegovu muziku jer se osećaju kulturnije, ali im uopšte nije drugačiji od radnika sa njihovih polja. Širlija ne napušta ljubaznost ni kada trpi najgoru diskriminaciju i zaista ima moje divljenje zbog samokontrole. Činjenica je da bi priča bila efektnija da je ispričana iz njegove perspektive, ali posredno vidimo evoluciju i njegovog karaktera – napokon shvata da njegova muzika ne može sama promeniti viševekovna ubeđenja i duboko usađene predrasude.

Odavno imam visoko mišljenje o kvalitetima glume Viga Mortensena, a u ovom filmu ih je još jednom pokazao. Čovek je Danac, a predstavio je totalno uverljivog Amerikanca italijanskog porekla. Sa druge strane, Maheršala Ali gotovo neprimetno pruža veliku podršku glavnom junaku, ne ističe se previše dok sedi na zadnjem sedištu i upravo se u tom nenametljivom jakom utisku koji ostavlja ogleda njegov kvalitet. Ali je nanizao veoma dobre uloge, dobio je Oskara za sporednu ulogu i on je jedan od glavnih razloga što imam poverenja u treću sezonu serije True Detective.

Green Book je film koji nas vodi u zanimljivu, emotivnu i iznenađujuće laganu vožnju, iako se bavi osetljivom temom – jednostavna, ali i jedinstvena biografska priča kojoj Vigo Mortensen i Maheršala Ali udišu život.