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| Author | Zoe Aresti |
When the first shot of Viggo Mortensen’s overweight, Italian-American bouncer appeared on screen, there was an audible sigh of relief amongst the audience at this year’s surprise film and with good reason!
Green Book had gone relatively under the radar until its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival where it picked up the coveted Audience Award and it’s easy to see why it received such praise. Receiving not one but two standing ovations on the night (the second when the cast and crew came out which lasted so long, we were told to sit down) the film truly is an example of biographical film making at its best.
This true-life story of the unlikely friendship that forms when a black pianist hires a white driver to escort him through Deep South America in the 1960s when racial segregation was still prominent provides the subtle humour one might not expect from its director Peter Farrelly who is more known for making goon movies. Farrelly perfectly balances a serious subject matter by encouraging his leads to deliver their humorous lines with, at times, such a poignancy that almost implies humor and a stiff upper lip was the only way these two men could come out of this tour in one piece.
Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen are sure fire awards contenders for their portrayals of the ‘odd couple’ style pairing whose impeccable comical timing and powerhouse acting is given the perfect platform to shine. The film had you crying one minute as Ali’s character, Don, struggled to accept being celebrated as a great pianist by the same men who would not dine with him due to the colour of his skin and laughing at the next as Mortensen’s Tony introduces Don to the delights of Fried Chicken. The chemistry between these two is instantaneous and was showcased beautifully by the non-stop praise the actors fed one another in the Q+A afterwards.
There was such a buzz around this film as you left the screening, cementing itself as the type of film that sticks with you for a long time. The acting and storytelling were both so heartfelt that I couldn’t help but smile when talking about the film with friends in the days after.