- Passing (2021) Netflix Movie Review
- Passing Explained | Ending Explained
- Passing (2021) Was Confusing!
- Let’s Discuss Passing
- Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga talk about new film, Passing l GMA
- Tessa Thompson & Rebecca Hall Break Down the Dance Scene from Passing | Vanity Fair
- Passing & the Nature of Identity
Passing (2021) Netflix Movie Review
i got to see passing when it debuted at,sundance before it was picked up by,netflix its the featured directorial,debut of rebecca hall and it stars tessa,thompson so should you watch this one,immediately or give it a pass,[Applause],based on the novel by nella larson,passing follows the unexpected reunion,of two high school friends whose renewed,acquaintance ignites a mutual obsession,that threatens both of their carefully,constructed realities as two black women,who can pass as white and choose to live,on opposite sides of the color line in,1929 new york so like i said this stars,tessa thompson but it also features ruth,nega bill camp andre holland and,alexander skarsgard thompson stars as,irene and nega is claire and their,friends who had lost contact and are now,reunited so first the presentation is,just wonderful i mean its shot in black,and white with an almost one-to-one,aspect ratio and the title of the film,refers to lighter-skinned black people,being able to pass as white people which,both irene and claire can do there are,so many different conversations that,happen during this story that tackle,racism but also just address race as a,whole and that dialogue is very piercing,at times as it addresses the racism i,mean even though portions of this came,from the 1929 novel the messages are,still very relevant today the,relationship dynamics are also very,engaging and theyre even uncomfortable,at times because both of the leads,choose to pass as white they can go,places and even interact with people the,darker skinned black people cannot,theres even an intriguing relationship,with claire and her husband whos white,theres even a conversation that,transpires between irene and claires,husband where in the course of the,discussion irene asks him if he dislikes,negroes he responds no i hate them,i mean this is from the guy thats,married to ruth claire so we can,see that at some point the walls could,come tumbling down leading to something,just terrible in their relationship,theres an engaging contradiction with,clary she struggles with wanting the,best of both worlds i mean she enjoys,the privilege of her whiteness but also,misses some of the culture and heritage,of being black and this causes some,wonderful if not very uncomfortable,story friction but the dynamic tension,isnt just between white and black it,also exists within irenes marriage to a,black man her husband doesnt want to,shield his kids from the harsh reality,of racism and hes trying to prepare,them for how life will actually treat,them but irene wants to keep them from,hearing about the terrible things that,are done to black people because of,hatred the story conflict that is raised,makes us wonder if this is because she,is able to ride that line between black,and white i mean shes able to pass so,does it alter her perception of the,world or does she merely want to protect,the innocence of her children just for,as long as possible she is confronted,with the fact though that her children,are already experiencing racism the use,of language within the story is,wonderful theres a point where irene is,reading a letter and it could be seen as,ambiguous because it means one thing to,irene and its interpreted a completely,different way by her husband now because,were able to see into the world as,observers we know the true meaning,behind the words but i love how it was,utilized within the story as a double,meaning reinforcing the theme of irene,living in two worlds her whole being,interpreted by peoples own internal,context the musical score is wonderful,the scenes are filled with piano and,jazz giving both uplifting and,conflicting emotions as the scenes,progress and im not typically a fan of,jazz but here it really worked now even,though this is doing a great job of,addressing racism in a direct way i,never got the sense that i was being,preached at i felt this approach made,the message more effective now the,pacing is slower in this sometimes,making it feel longer than the 98 minute,run time but its still not boring or,dragging i mean sometimes we get,lingering scenes that make it feel like,an older movie and thats also evident,through much of the aesthetics the,costume design as well as the set,designs really do transport us to that,era even the sound design is reminiscent,of older films with those unique sounds,of ambient traffic as the characters,walk down the street the cinematography,is beautiful from the camera movements,and tracking shots to the framing of the,characters and the scenes i mean they,all felt like theyd be right at home in,a film from the 30s and 40s now there,are a few odd time jumps that skip the,story ahead its not necessarily cutting,out important info but it did feel a,little abrupt at times i enjoyed the,story progression despite the slower,pace and when we reached the climax i,wasnt prepared for the ending i mean it,left me in a melancholic state which i,guess is to be somewhat expected given,the heavy nature of the story so overall,i enjoyed passing i love how the,narrative tackles race while giving us,complex characters who are filled with,contradictions and truth especially as,they struggle to get ahead in life where,circumstances are designed to hold them,down the acting is wonderful and,first-time director rebecca hall really,delivers on a period piece that has an,authentic look and feel but despite my,enjoyment of the story the acting and,presentation this isnt one that i see,myself revisiting often as it is pretty,heavy theres no sex or nudity some,profanity and a little bit of violence i,give passing four out of five couches,what are you binging right now anything,worth checking out let me know in the,comments below if you enjoyed this,review please give it a like also dont,forget to share and subscribe im chris,this is movies and munchies thanks for,couching with me
Passing Explained | Ending Explained
a few days ago i watched passing and,this movie was incredible to say the,least and now i really badly want to,give my explanation of the ending how,the ending played out how the ending can,be interpreted and the symbols and,themes in the movie that led up to the,ending being so thematic and meaningful,and i have to quickly say i feel like i,could connect with this movie on a,personal level because it had a lot to,do with my personal background and my,lineage and my family when it comes to,varying african complexions to break it,down were gonna use two themes one,liberty versus luxury where well,discuss the intro cafe scene claires,life versus irenes life their mutual,curiosity passing is white and claires,husbands racism and two comfort of,ignorance well discuss claires,ignorance irenes ignorance brians,emphasis of the lynchings irenes hands,shaking claires flirting with brian and,the ending with claire in the window and,how it all relates to theme number one,and two and much more and if you like,this video please leave a thumbs up and,a comment it helps so much and if you,want to see more of these please make,sure to subscribe as well lets get,started,theme number one liberty versus luxury,the film starts off with irene visiting,this upper class white cafe we notice,that irene is powdering her face while,cautiously keeping an eye on the three,or four white people around her and at,this moment we realized that irene is,powdering her face to pass as a white,person and once this reality registers,in our brains as viewers we immediately,see claire directly staring at irene and,this is probably my favorite shot in the,whole movie because in this moment,claire represents the extremely shocking,reality of what irene always had the,opportunity of becoming its almost as,if claire in this shot is a,personification of irenes curiosity,looking her directly in the face and,refusing to look away we soon learned,that claire is an old childhood friend,of irenes who is full on living a life,of passing as a white woman and is,married to a white man and i want to,expand on this idea here because i think,this intro scene establishes the basis,and biggest theme of the entire film,each of these two characters represent a,different path that both of them had the,opportunity to take both characters are,black women of a lighter complexion,claire has decided to pass this white,irene has decided to continue as black,and as we experience the life of these,characters throughout the film we learn,that there are advantages and,disadvantages that make both women very,curious of one another lets start with,claire claire represents luxury her life,at first glance appears to be the better,life as she dines at fine restaurants,wears more expensive clothes and stays,in more luxurious rooms and irenes,curiosity in this life is demonstrated,in how she is passing as a white woman,just for the day she is exploring her,curiosity of being respected and treated,fairly for once claire has escaped to,the marginalization and mistreatment,that irene has to face every day and,this lingers with irene after reuniting,with claire as she keeps returning to,the idea of switching the boys out of,their school and leaving their community,theres this comfort and privilege to,claires life that irene has always,dreamed of having irene on the other,hand represents liberty and i know,immediately you might be like how how,does she represent liberty when she,doesnt even have the freedom to visit a,white restaurant or walk safely through,a white community this is certainly true,but i 100,believe that irene is way more of a free,woman than claire and this concept has,so much to do with the ending and i feel,like i can best explain this through the,scene with claires husband claires,husband john introduces himself to irene,shortly after claire and irene meet in,the cafe and right away jon just starts,dropping the n-word in the most wicked,way it hurts to hear using the n-word he,playfully describes how claire is,becoming like a black person as her skin,darkens in the summer there is clearly a,deep underlying hatred for black people,that jon has and black is what claire,truly is her own husband is expressing,his deep hatred for his wife right in,front of his wife and he doesnt even,know it surely irene doesnt have,claires luxury and privilege however,she doesnt have to be associated with,and legally tied to people who would,have looked down upon her and looked,down upon her people irene also has the,freedom to express her culture and true,identity as a black person amongst her,family and friends essentially both,characters remind each other of what,they could have been which is why irene,passes as white for a day and why claire,is dying to see irene once again and,relive the life that is truly her which,brings me to theme number two comfort of,ignorance as said before both claire and,irene face different disadvantages based,on the decision that each of them have,made for claire she loses her culture,roots and character for irene she,suffers from mistreatment under payment,and risk of safety and the possible,major consequences of their choices are,severe to say the least irene runs the,risk of her children being treated even,worse than her for their darker,complexion they could even be injured or,killed just for being in the wrong place,at the wrong time claire runs the risk,of her white friends and family finding,out that she is actually a black woman,she herself could certainly be hurt or,even killed for keeping such a secret,but the most interesting thing here is,both women use ignorance to be at peace,with these life-threatening harsh,realities while brian tries to tell the,boys about the innocent black men being,harassed abused and lynched irene,insists he stopped talking but the,earlier the boys know the better so they,can stay safe and we get a taste of the,upcoming hardships for the boys when one,is called the n-word at school irene,however would rather ignore the idea of,her boys having such brutal things,possibly happen to them so she somewhat,pretends that its not real its this,childish approach of ignorance to a,harsh reality that provides comfort this,is why brian says the very powerful line,i dont understand how someone as,intelligent as you can be so stupid and,irene knows this is true claire,unfortunately does the same thing,everything about her seems so happy and,fulfilled but its pretty obvious in her,mannerisms that she isnt being,completely genuine theres this painful,lurking fear hiding behind her,endearingly beautiful smile and charm,and claires ignorance is another,unwanted yet unavoidable reflection of,irenes ignorance very similarly to that,early shot in the cafe and irene gets,nervous whenever shes holding in these,true emotions in the face of her harsh,reality this causes her hands to shake,throughout the film when her son is,learning about the lynchings her hands,shake and she forgets whats cooking on,the stovetop her hands also shake when,she sees claire getting more and more,comfortable with the black community,while also getting way more comfortable,and playfully flirty in the company of,brian brian for claire is this idea of a,black husband claire could now never,have this fear and nervousness in the,face of this reality causes irene to,drop and shatter the teapot and leading,up to the end of the film when irene,sees claire reveling in the comfort of,black company specifically brians,company irene is finally pushed to bring,up the harsh reality that both of them,have to face irene asks claire have you,ever thought of what youd do if jon,found out and claire says i do what i,want more than anything right now i come,up here to live in harlem with you and,both irene and claire know that such a,solution isnt realistic at all and,irene knows that when the comfort of,ignorance is taken too far the,consequences are soon to be,life-changing or better yet,life-threatening and this is exactly
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Passing (2021) Was Confusing!
so was she gay,[Music],were they bi,[Music],was he cheating,was she cheating,did she want to pass,was everybody passing,[Music],hi you guys welcome back to my channel,its tyrone here with another struggle,review here to discuss passing now this,movie is available on netflix and it,stars tessa thompson now before i get,into,all the questions that came up while i,was watching this and all the answers i,thought we were about to get that we,didnt get that i might be confused on i,need you guys to drop down and subscribe,to my channel and like this video im,going to give you guys a moment to do,that and then were going to come back,and discuss,all things,did she push her,did she did she put,did,did she push her,[Music],so,[Music],now that you guys have hopefully,subscribed to see more of me lets get,into this movie,now to be honest i was not at all,excited to watch this movie i felt like,the trailer gave away so,much and we pretty much already knew the,story that was about to unfold but,honestly in watching it this movie had a,lot more to offer than i initially,thought now to start off this movie is,based on a book also from the 1920s and,it was written and produced and directed,by rebecca hall who felt really drawn to,the story after finding out that her,mother was a passing woman so that adds,you know a personal touch to this film,and i really think it shines through now,another thing that i really enjoyed here,were the performances from the actors we,do have you know um tessa thompson here,andre holland,and ruth nick nica nick you know what we,just gonna say rules,everybody here did a really good job but,surprisingly i really enjoyed tessa,thompsons performance sometimes with,her she is not my favorite actress and,you know she she does the most to me,sometimes but i really enjoyed her hair,i dont have you know a personal,vendetta against her or anything but i,just feel like you know,in hollywood they tend to call her zozie,beats and zendaya for like everything,and i just get a little tired of seeing,them but not here i really enjoyed her,hair i was very surprised by her,performance now i also really enjoyed,the raw and like simple feel of the,movie especially with it being shot in,black and white and really kind of,giving us a throwback to those 20s like,it was so like minimal and just simple,and you know there werent a ton of,people on screen at a time and it really,helped the film along especially with um,us getting into these women being able,to pass,getting into that before i jump directly,into the movie,at times it did kind of take me out of,the story with uh that black and white,really washing out our ruth claire,character,at times you know with her looking so,you know washed out and the blonde wig,it just really it was just like whoa,like it looked a little bit unnatural,but i really did like you know what that,added to the film that was a nice choice,now with everything being you know,really simple and theyre not being you,know a ton of background music and,thats just hearing the atmosphere it,really gives us the opportunity to get,into our characters and we immediately,get into tessa thompson as irene and her,instantly trying to pass while being you,know in a store shopping she is passing,as soon as we meet her so when she goes,to this you know this luxury hotel and,she runs into claire and shes instantly,so judgmental at the fact that not only,are you passing but you are married to a,white man with a child like its just,this instant judgment even though we,meet her and shes passing even though,irene is instantly so judgmental of,claire and its just like you know why,even you know put yourself in these,spaces i am you know happily married,also i have dark-skinned black children,im you know very comfortable within,myself even though she really was not,she its just you know really judgmental,but at the same time were identifying,with her because its just like claire,we have irene you know shes just so,disheveled so nervous like what is going,on i feel unsafe this is so risky claire,is instantly calm shes serene shes not,worried about a thing not even her you,know racially people have been calling,her his little like oh you know,thats my little you know she got,darker a little darker every day she,keeps getting darker she go turns like,like what do you not like black people i,dont know i hate them like,for you just have to you know really be,understanding of the mental head space,that claire had to be in and what kind,of space you had to be in in that point,in time to feel like this was the best,choice versus me walking around freely,as you know a lighter black woman if i,can get into this space with this white,man have this you know this lifestyle,and have my you know my daughter go off,and go to like why not why wouldnt i,im willing to risk it to have this now,its also at that moment even though we,have all of this you know racially,charged conversation going on and irene,just completely feeling uncomfortable,like girl im trying to get back to,harlem,claire is just so eager to,be in the same space as irene breed the,same air as her just i want to see you i,want to you know can we catch up and,its giving more of relationship old,flame former lovers rather than you know,long-lost friends its very you know,like theres this underlining of sexual,tension which we also got in the trailer,as to say you know this is not only,uh a woman or you know women trying to,pass but these are also women trying to,pass as straight when theyre clearly,attracted to each other and have some,history did we dive all the way into,that and get the answers that we were,hoping to get,no,and did i have a problem that we didnt,get those answers or straight away to,you know yes they were in a relationship,yes she has you know these sort of,feelings towards clear and this is more,than just a passing situation,i did not mind that at all i think it,really added some allure to the story,that we didnt get all the answers that,we were looking for and we were just,made to kind of play the guessing game,and just go off of what we felt was,going on and we get into this pushing,pool of you know is this just strictly,about you know,claire passing and her,wanting to pass herself as irene or is,this about you know clear passing and,you know being in all these different,spaces with all these men and her being,you know,super desirable in the story versus her,just feeling like you know shes stifled,and her wanting to pass herself and her,being unhappy within her own marriage we,did not get answers for that and i was,okay with that now after we leave you,know that tension between irene and,claire and irene trying to you know make,it her business to keep her distance,away from clear though it may not just,be you know because she doesnt identify,with her lifestyle or because you know,maybe she just mow her,we get into her relationship with her,husband and the story does a really good,job of creating you know small room of,doubt and tension within their marriage,and you clearly see that even though you,know they are financially well-off hes,a doctor she does charity work her boys,you know go to a nice school,and there you know in this lovely,brownstone she is not comfortable and,happy in the space that she is in,and its kind of giving off you know i,love the way it was directed to where,we were kind of getting kind of like a,pov from irene and,for a lot of the time we didnt really,even get to see her boys faces we didnt,you know a lot of things were like out,of focus as to say,she was pretty much like in another,state of my life she was somewhere else,she was physically there but her body,was somewhere else,and it really like the tension was there,you see that her husband you know he,loves her he like wants to ravage her,all the time he you know he trying to,get some,and she is just kind of you know kind of,like uh,but at that moment we dont know exactly,what its for but,in the beginning we ju
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Let’s Discuss Passing
welcome back to my channel marasakas hey,happy holidays to you and yours so i,asked you guys in the community tab if,you wanted to see a review of the,netflix movie passing and most of you,said yes some of you enjoyed it some of,you were confused and some of you were,waiting on a recommendation from me to,decide if you wanted to see the movie or,not and i will say straight up right now,from the beginning,watch this film let me go ahead and also,let you guys know that there will be,spoilers we are going to talk about,every inch of this film,okay not every inch im a little,obsessed sorry but were gonna discuss,this film in its entirety so if you have,not seen it yet i will be going over the,plot i will be going over character,traits so if you dont want to know,dont watch this video until after you,finish watching passing on netflix then,come back and play this video so the,scene takes place in 1920s new york city,a black woman finds her world upended,when her life becomes intertwined with a,former childhood friend whose passing as,white the film was directed by rebecca,hall,starring tessa thompson ruth nega andre,holland and a brilliant cast from the,wardrobe to the music to the subtle,nuances theres so much to unpack and,thats one of the reasons why i really,enjoy this film is because not,everything is said blatantly a lot of,things you have to infer a lot of things,you have to imagine and a lot of things,you just gotta take a guess because,although the film is in black and white,the answers arent in black and white so,let go,so the film opens up with irene shes in,town shopping for her sons birthday,gift and we see these two white women,and theyre speaking about a doll that,they want to get for their niece they go,into the shop they pick up this black,doll and they make mention that you know,their niece has never met a black person,except the one that they have at home as,their maid and here the director has to,take us back into time and really set us,in the 1920s a world where most of us,today have never seen can never imagine,but of course we know that that world,has indeed existed and so we see the,interactions with irene and the cashier,shes very nervous in fact watching,irene in the first scene it made me,nervous and although throughout the film,it seems as if she does have some kind,of anxiety disorder or some type of some,type of nervous disorder um shes,especially nervous when shes outside,passing another thing that i think is,worth mentioning there was someone who,passed out in the street in the,beginning the director made sure to,focus on that point even as,i was going to call hertessa but even as,irene was leaving you know she made sure,to turn around and she looked out that,window and she saw that person on the,ground i feel like theres a lot of,foreshadowing in this film and i do,believe that tessa looking out the,window in that first scene and seeing,someone lying passed out on the ground,you know that sets the tone for what,literally happens at the end as well and,so were introduced to claire bellew in,the very next scene,irene stops by at this restaurant and lo,and behold claire is there with her,caucasian husband and i will admit you,do have to have some patience with this,film you cant youre not going to get,all the meat and potatoes at first so,you have to take your time be patient,and really take in the scenery the,scenery was captured magnificently but,yeah so irene was waiting for her water,and her food or whatever theres this,couple there you know pda on ten uh,theres this elderly couple and then,smack dab right in the middle,is claire,piercing staring at irene and irene,literally cannot take it like i was like,why is this lady staring at her like,that like it was creepy a little bit im,not gonna lie the stare was so,keen,the stair was keen and then she gets up,and walks towards irene irene is such a,nervous wreck,irene feels so much like an outsider,that just someone looking at her and,walking towards her frightens her and so,she gets up shes about to leave and,this womans like hello hey hey do i,know you,irene rini is that you rini,it was really given i love lucy as well,irene has no clue who this lady is she,finally recognizes her shes like oh my,god claire you look so different that,was your husband a white man they go,upstairs to claires room kiki drink a,little bit more alcohol order some food,and they begin to have this very awkward,conversation about passing and so we,have two biracial women but the film,represents them as black uh we all know,the one drop rule any drop of black,during this time you were considered,black it doesnt matter if your mama was,white your daddy was white your,great-granddaddy if you had black in you,they did not consider you white so we,have these biracial women who are,passing for white and they have two,completely different lives irene passes,for white for convenience when she needs,to go shopping or she needs some sort of,privilege you can tell that shes very,uncomfortable posing as a white woman,then you have claire whos vibrant shes,bold shes loud you know she lets it be,known that shes in the room and shes,very comfortable you know with the fact,that she is passing as a white woman and,that no one will find out but as i,previously mentioned the dialogue was a,bit awkward obviously they spoke,differently in the 1920s you know a lot,of subtle shade being thrown but major,lesbian tension let me know down in the,comment section if you picked up on the,lesbian energy between these two i was,like did they,did they bump bussies back in the day,im just im im just saying you know,irene every chance she got them eyes was,up and down and if you look at um whats,her name claire she was forever staring,at irenes lips i was like she keep,looking at her lips and in her eyes and,they have these moments where theyre,holding hands we dont get there we,gonna get irene asks claire what about,her family and she says you know when,her father died her two white aunts,basically raised her and then she got,married at 18 and never really saw her,family again so shes giving off the,impression that she is happy posing and,living as a white woman she keeps saying,im happy i have everything that i want,and we see thats a lie,as we keep watching this film this woman,is the exact opposite of what she,portrays in the first scene i know yall,saw this scene and was like hold on hold,on hold on hold on hold on hold on,you gonna call me what,who,hey,no siree so obviously claires white,husband was racist what white person,wasnt at this point in time but the,dialogue was very interesting so you,have irene sitting there shes met this,man for the first time and he calls his,wife nigg,he says he calls her nigg because he,first met her at 18 she was pale,as ever and as the years are going by,shes getting darker and darker and at,first irene finds this funny she wasnt,peeking behind that hat no more child,honey she was a laugh and that liquid,courage got to her she was cackling,cackling and then she said wait a minute,do you dislike negroes and he says no,i hate them,and so she left,so then we get back to harlem and we,meet irenes husband brian and her two,sons and was it just me or,her little boys is a little rude i dont,know you know i know theyre kids i love,the kids and everything but im big on,teaching children about respect so they,could grow up with respect and manners,and i dont know the interactions,between her and her son it was very,distant it was giving like mommys hair,but she dont really matter um we did,see some scenes where she was reading to,her sons or having some conversation,with them but i really didnt see,that like,mother mother-son dynamic but i know she,loves her sons and shes very concerned,about them but she coddles her boys she,wants to keep them from the reality,which they will eventually have some,sort of run-in with being that they are,both dark-skinned that causes some major,issues within their mar
Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga talk about new film, Passing l GMA
lets turn now to the cast of passing,the upcoming drama that tells a story of,racial identity through the eyes of two,childhood friends and its already,getting oscar buzz our chris conley sat,down with stars,she had something that i think i covered,which is a an absolute fearlessness to,be herself,but lives in a society,that cannot,and will not accept her as her whole,self starring ruth nega and tessa,thompson providing a nuanced and deeply,emotional look at two women navigating,minefields of race and identity yearning,and defiance passing based on a 1929,novel its one of 2021s critically,acclaimed films the directing debut of,actress rebecca hall passing describes,the ability of a person of one racial,group to be classified or mistaken for,another for people of color subjected to,racism and discrimination passing as a,white person offered access to a world,of privileges its not a rejection of,your blackness its a way,to,survive it was a secret and,people had to,leave their histories behind leave their,families behind leave their bloodlines,behind but um,really,thats not possible,it will follow you,i think so often,in the history of american cinema,theres this idea of moralizing the,person that decides to pass that this is,something that is bad,i think the book was about so much more,than just,passing in terms of the racial construct,it was about the ways in which we all,pass lots of people pass all the time,its easy for a negro to pass for white,im not sure,itd be so simple for a white person,pass for colored the dazzling daring,claire has married a racist unaware of,her past her childhood friend irene is,prominent in harlem society wedded to a,prosperous doctor a chance reunion,upends both of their lives this woman,has been in exile,essentially and this is her homecoming,longing for home for familiarity for,ones people something that was denied,to people who enacted the the life,severance that is passing,what leads to her demise is her,yearning to be in the company of,blackness again that in that way,its a complicated celebration of the,beauty of blackness,it seems as though your irene is,constantly worried she will lose,something shes a worrywart,[Laughter],shes beginning to think that no one is,ever happy free or safe,so you havent ever thought to what you,have the thought of passing no why,should i now i have everything ive ever,wanted it looks like a film that might,have been made at a bygone era and the,truth is when we were making films like,that in hollywood we werent making them,with two leads that look like us,and thats why for me it feels impactful,for good morning america chris connolly,abc news los angeles,and passing will be available on netflix,on wednesday,well hey there gma fans robin roberts,here thanks for checking out our youtube,channel lots of great stuff here so go,on click the subscribe button right over,right over here to get more of awesome,videos and content from gma every day,anytime we thank you for watching and,well see you in the morning on gma
Tessa Thompson & Rebecca Hall Break Down the Dance Scene from Passing | Vanity Fair
– Hello, Im Rebecca Hall.,- And I am Tessa Thompson.,- And this is Notes,,- On A Scene, for passing. – On A Scene, for passing.,[Rebecca laughs],- Seems like we rehearsed that.,- Tell me, can you always tell the difference?,- Oh, now you really are sounding ignorant.,- No, no, I mean it.,Feelings of kinship or something like that?,- Hugh, stop talking to me like youre writing a piece,for the National Geographic.,I can tell same as you.,- This scene is in the,,dance for the NWL.,Which is kind of analogous to the NAACP.,Irene is sat with the character Hugh Wentworth,,as played marvelously by Bill Camp.,And they have this private,,sort of covert discussion that is,,kinda wanna say, in a sort of safe arena.,Theyre both playing a game of alluding,to each others secrets.,[audience applauding],- [Hugh] Bianca and Cole are always raving on,about the good looks, of some Negro,,especially an unusually dark one,,like Ralph Hazelton there.,- This was in Harlem it was in a community church hall,that wasnt actively being used as a church,,or maybe the downstairs part was,,but there was this big open hole area in the top.,- This scene, and also just watching how,beautiful everyone looked while dancing.,To see that many black folks in a room,,mostly black folks in a room,,looking gorgeous, dancing,,laughing, smiling, – Yeah, yeah.,- Was really special.,- We were shot handheld for a lot of the dance stuff.,We had like kind of, some master cooks in our arsenal,that were more straightforward for more,crystal clear moments.,But a lot of the stuff that we shot,was on a Lomo.,Which, I think this shot is Lomo.,It is definitely,,because as you can see where Im marking here,,there is a softness and an out of focus-ness,at the top and the bottom of the frame.,So not only are we being compressed by the 4.3 this way,,were also being slightly fuzzied out,,at the top and the bottom of the frame.,And I loved this lens when I saw it,cause I thought it articulated something of Irenes,,like, we shouldnt rely that shes seeing clearly.,Literally. [Rebecca chuckles],So it becomes fuzzy because,,and it becomes increasingly fuzzy,,in different key moments.,- Also, do you think something about 4.3, is that,theres all this stuff.,- Oh, yeah, lets point out 4.3.,- [Tessa] That you dont get to see?,- [Rebecca] Yeah, oh yeah.,- [Tessa] In the frame, right?,- [Rebecca] The thing I love about 4.3,is that its very confronting I think,,on the face,,like this shot is an example of two people,,a two shot, which is slightly different.,But when its just a single,,like imagine if this were, that.,Theres just no. – [Tessa] Room.,- Theres just no room, right? – [Rebecca] Its all face.,- [Tessa] Like a headshot.,- [Rebecca] Which for a film about faces,and how theyre seen and how theyre judged,,whos seeing them as what,,whos saying what they look like,,I think it focuses the eye.,The photographer, Gordon Parks.,- Yeah.,- I thought about that quote of his,,”You should teach the eye to listen before it sees.”,[Tessa gasps],- I always thought that was very applicable to,,a lot of this movie.,- [Hugh] Ralph Hazelton there, dozens of women,have declared him fantastically handsome.,What do you think?,Is he?,- No, and I dont think anyone else would either.,- Here we have [Tessa giggles],the extraordinary Ruth Negga.,Now, the flash of daring pink. [Tessa giggles],[Rebecca chuckles],So in the book, there is a conversation,about Clares passing,,but its much more coded.,And I think the spirit of that, is here,,but I pushed it a little further because,I sort of felt that also Irene,was using that information to get a little power over Clare,,in the context of something that was relatively safe,,because hes got a fat secret too,that she knows about.,Hes in the closet,,hes gay, and shes pointing that out.,So the reason I amped up that moment,a little bit more than in the book,and it is kind of a little shocking,because she does out Clare, on some level.,Is to highlight the latent homosexuality,and the power dynamics going on there,,in terms of their shared secret.,- Its just plain exoticism.,An interest in whats different.,A kind of emotional excitement.,Something you feel in the presence of something strange,,and even perhaps a bit repugnant too.,- And there you have it.,- But I just want to say that,,I love how you deliver that section,because its so clear to me,,that youre talking about your attraction for her.,[giggling],- The way in which we had to tell those stories,,subtly, without ever obviously getting to them,because Nella Larson couldnt write about,repressed homosexuality.,And in a way I think it would have been a betrayal to,,state it obviously,,when Irene, isnt even aware of it herself.,Like she cant vocalize it,,so I couldnt ask the character to.,And if you did crack open Irenes head,and asked her to give their monologue,,I think that it would be a lot of lies, honestly.,- For all the things that she doesnt ever think or say,,there are many things that Nella Larsen, herself,,articulates that are inside of Irenes head.,And so I suppose the challenge is to have that,exist inside of you,,without telegraphing it, inside of performance.,But I would have, notes in the margin,,Nella Larsons words.,- The only way to do it filmically,,to try and find,,let the audience slowly realize,the subtlety of whats going on,,is to drip-feed them these gestures.,Hands, longing,,how Irene perceives the world, the fuzziness of it,,the unreliability of it.,Then of course the black and white,,which is the biggest irony of all,,because nothing is ever black and white.,Its gray, including film.,The pushback I received from that was enormous.,Throughout the financing process,,so many people said to me,,”We love the script.”,”Well absolutely make it,,if you make it in color.”,And I just kept saying to everyone,,it wont be the film that I know it can be,,if I had make it in color.,It wont have the same potency.,It wont have the same abstraction.,Im not particularly interested in cinematic reality,being the same as our reality,,but it has to have emotional truth.,And I think the symbolism of this is stronger,than were it to be in reality.,- Lots of people pass all the time.,- Its easy for a Negro to pass for white.,Im not sure, Itd be so simple for a white person,to pass for colored.,- I mean that little sort of scoff that you do,,I think speaks to the question of,,are you going to give yourself?,Im going to give you some blue earrings.,[giggling],- He says, “Yes, I know what you mean.”,which is, sort of.,- Yeah.,- a classic moment of,,yes, of course I can completely relate,to everything youre saying,,when of course you cant,,because youre a white man.,And shes polite enough to just scoff at him.,I mean, shes holding her own.,Shes saying it how it is,,but theres also a certain amount of benign tolerance,,Id say.,- Yeah.,Absolutely. [Rebecca chuckles],- Benign tolerance of his idiocy,,which is partially, honestly,,why I had you standing up higher than him.,I wanted him to feel like a little child.,[Rebecca laughs] – thats so interesting.,I liked that this scene was last,,because to me,,it was the most honest,shell ever be. – Yeah.,And so I had, had all the time to figure out,the emotional landscape of the character.,And I think it mightve been a different scene,had we not known that. – No its true.,[indistinct],- Its absolutely true.,I mean, shes kind of completely different,with Hugh than she is with anyone.,- Completely different.,- Its like, its the only place,where shes allowed to be a little,,you see something thats a little bit,caustic in her, which I love. – Yeah.,- You see the slightly kind of catty,,confrontational person.,- Yeah. – You think,if you were really free to be who you really are,,- Shed be quite fun dont you think?,- Youd be kind of a fire cracker,and kind of fun. – Yeah.,- She might not be on the dance floor.,- Yeah.,- But she could make you laugh.,And is a talented conversationalist.,- Thats so true. – Yeah.,- Y
Passing & the Nature of Identity
hello everyone princess here,due to health reasons i was unable to,really get a video out health and a lot,of travel but i didnt want to leave,this month without doing a single video,so i am going to share with you all,this awesome video i did about the movie,passing,for nebula i think its a really good,video,and i am happy to see it be shared with,more folks and i hope you all enjoy get,something out of it and i just want to,thank the members of my patreon and my,sponsor word anvil for helping all of,this come together when it was announced,that rebecca hall was making a film,adaptation of nella larsons passing and,the images came out there was discussion,if the leads tessa thompson and rufnega,passed and a larger conversation about,what it meant to pass at the time the,book was written versus today so in this,video were going to discuss passing the,novel the film the concept of passing,today and at the time that nella larson,was writing this novel todays sponsor,is word anvil something you might not,know about me is that i,love tabletop rpgs i collect a lot of,the books and i have been taking lessons,in how to become a game master because i,want to run a power rangers mighty,morphin campaign but one of the things,that i find to be daunting is trying to,figure out everything,keep track of character stuff without,just drowning in the many notebooks that,i already own which is why todays,sponsor world anvil is,so perfect not just for me but im sure,for a lot of people out there who love,building and creating worlds word anvil,is a fantastic world building platform,which allows you to organize both,information for novels but also rpgs the,system is built to fit over 45 plus,games including fate,tails from the loop legend of the five,rings numeneria call of cthulhu and of,course pathfinder and dungeons and,dragons the,ones that everyone plays plus if youre,also a fantasy novelist like myself you,can set up your magic systems rules,import maps and other features to keep,track of everything within your world,building there is a whiteboard feature,that gives you sort of a blank canvas,where you can add articles images and do,these expansive mind maps with,connections between points a mood board,flow charts for storytelling and ideas,that you are building together world,anvils latest feature is called,chronicles which allows people to,connect timelines and maps this is,really awesome because if you are like a,big,map nerd and you want to make sure that,you are world building more than anyone,will ever,truly appreciate they ask you how you,are you just have to say that youre,fine when youre not really fine,chronicles allows you to give a visual,representation of important events in,correlation to where they happen in the,world it supports you having multiple,maps and multiple timelines with a,built-in setup wizard meaning it is,going to be very easy for people to jump,in and use the tool so regardless of if,youre looking to work within a tabletop,rpg or build your own fantasy land world,anvil gives you the tools if you use my,code princess weeks you will get 40 off,any yearly subscription again that is,code princess weeks worldanville.com for,40 off and i gotta say i started using,this surface it is really user friendly,ive used scrivener i kind of find it,overwhelming so this was absolutely a,happy alternative and i definitely,recommend it and now i can finally uh,take all these rpg ideas and put them,somewhere even if nobody ever plays and,lets get into it,to understand passing it is important to,acknowledge its author nella larson and,how she compared to her black,contemporaries during the harlem,renaissance so larson had a white danish,immigrant mother and a mixed race,afro-caribbean father from the danish,west indies her father whose name um,that we know to be peter walker was not,in her life and she was primarily raised,by her white mother in chicago however,at this time in chicago it was before,the great migration,which is the period in which a lot of,black people left from the south up,north into the midwest,so when nella larson was growing up at,this period in chicago,it was a,city that was,like,one percent black in that way she grew,up very separated from her blackness,with no exposure to her black father who,left the family and living in a,primarily white immigrant household as,black novelist daryl pickney wrote of,her background as a member of a white,immigrant family she larson had no,entree into the world of the blues or of,the black church if she could never be,white like her mother and sister neither,could she ever be black in quite the,same way that langston used and his,characters were black,hers was a netherworld unrecognizable,historically and too painful to dredge,up as a result her blackness existed,very much within the otherness of her,own heritage i myself am first,generation black american,both my parents are black from the,caribbean but i have four black,grandparents and regardless of my,immigrant status i share very much in,the cultural experiences of being a,black person raised within blackness in,a primarily black community growing up,because im from brooklyn and i grew up,in um east new york larsen didnt have,that despite being,while very light-skinned and eurocentric,in some of her features visibly black,and very much identified as a woman,within the black experience,and i think its important to understand,that this experience is different from,today where with a handful of exceptions,we see a lot of famous black biracial,folks being raised by a white mother,and,there is a lot more,you know exposure of that and its its,definitely more normalized sorry,whenever i hear my cat do something im,like,she okay and because of all of that it,makes sense that she would write a book,like passing a story that very much,deals with the connection,in blackness that goes beyond phenotype,and is a much more intimate spiritual,connection that when youre away from,you you reach out to so passing was,first published in 1929 and takes place,primarily in harlem centering around the,reunion between two friends claire,kendri and irene redfield claire has,decided to pass for white and is married,to a racist white man who hates black,people,a choice,uh while irene could pass she chooses,not to and is married to a visibly black,doctor,it is it is brought up in the book that,irene has kind of,internalized the whole separate but,equal concept that was passed in the,plessy supreme court case and is very,much,concerned with just maintaining that,black upper,middle class lifestyle and avoids,discretions of race um,especially concerning her black sons,which leads to a lot of conflict between,her and her,um husband they even have like a maid,who is darker than her so there are,still within the novel these tricklings,of how colorism plays into,the black upper elite the two are,reunited uh in the novel on a hot day,where irene goes to the drayton hotel in,chicago um and ends up meeting claire,because she is passing its so hot that,she like is just passing to be white,just so she can like get out of the heat,and its supposedly like the first time,shes ever really done that and claire,sees her and instantly they start,catching up pardon me i dont mean to,stare but,i think i know you,im afraid youre mistaken,no of course i know you really,you look just the same,tell me do they still call you really,yes so no ones called me that for a,long time,dont you know me,not really,really im afraid i cant seem to place,[Laughter],claire,thats right,not claire kendrick we find out that,claire was raised by her two,paternal white aunts after her her,parents died and lives as a white,european woman,despite all of that she has this very,deep feeling of loneliness having been,separated from colored people from,negros,and,as she meets irene she starts sending,her these letters and we jump to that in,the novel,of her,of being reunited with irene for that,one moment really triggers