Blog From The Bench

I noticed a very disturbing review on Amazon where a guy complained the movie Brother to Brother was misnamed because the black lead character was not with another brother but instead a white student. He missed the whole point of the movie which was that relationship was only sexual, and was over before the half way point of the movie. The real story of the film is about a young man struggling to be an artist who meets a famous Harlem poet, and together they teach each other how similar the struggles are for young black gay men today as they were seventy years ago. That's why the film is called Brother to Brother, and it has nothing to do with sex. That's what makes the film so powerful, and why you should check it out. It's a painfully honest look at what it is like to be black and gay. A lot of people don't understand what the cultural difference is for men of African American descent in the gay community. There is an extreme struggle for them to reconcile a heritage with their sexual identity. And it is that struggle that makes the film work. Wolfe video has provided a great little movie that adresses this extremely well. It's an important release worth your time as a rental or a purchase.

And to Jesse Ataide who wondered if any of us watch indies... That's almost all I see. But I think we often concentrate our blog entries on the big releases because they are fun to weigh in on. But quiet little movies like Brother to Brother are more my speed. They don't have the mass appeal of another CGI entry in the Star Wars series, but they usually resonate on a deeper more personal level. I like when film is deeply intimate. Even when it is a film maybe I can't relate to in some ways like Brother to Brother. It's the little films that makes the cinema matter still. Hollywood has mastered bombast and special effects, but they often lose heart and soul in the process.