THIS MONTH IN ART&FILM:

GEORGE WASHINGTON

FILM TAKES VIEWERS TO A FAMILIAR BUT SURREAL WORLD IN THE RURAL SOUTH

Review By Nathan Lee

George Washington is a film by director David Gordon Green. Taking place in  the rural south, the film focuses on a group of African American children who happen to be close knit friends during one hot summer. A comparison can be made with the 80's movie Stand By Me because this film deals with with issues such as loss of innocence and death, The similarities end there however, and George Washington excels over the latter. Its young protagonists seem older beyond their years yet they manage to convey the emotions of 12 year old adolescents with stark clarity. The little girl who narrates the story does so in a poetic and haunting way. Her words don't seem to be those of someone her age, but rather those of a world weary person who has seen more than she should have. The lead character George is an introspective boy who is a dreamer that wants to be a superhero and through almost tragic events, he is given the opportunity to be a real hero. Within the film an event happens that shakes all of the friends and their innocence is lost. It is at that moment that the film takes on an even more meditative surreal quality. Issues such as mortality, guilt and thoughts of suicide come into play. George Washington forces you to suspend your expectations of what kids so young are capable of feeling. The adults in the film are non entities and the children, while not neglected, are left to grow up emotionally and psychologically alone. The world of George Washington is one of youth.

Perhaps just as interesting as the premise of the movie is the way it is presented. From the beginning one gets the idea that this story is unfolding in a world that exists in some quiet universe parallel to our own. Director David Gordon Green uses dreamlike imagery and symbolism to create a moment in time that emits a mystical aura amidst the reality of poverty. His treatment of race doesn't follow the usual formula of racial tension in the South. It is an incidental and not even mentioned in the entire film. He allows Blacks and Whites to live together as equals. The characters themselves don't even seem aware of race. In that way George Washington is exactly like a surreal dream without all of the rules of the "real" world. The acting is treated in a near improvisational manner. There is a script but the script seems as though it was written in scenarios and the actors responded without scripted words. For some people this type of acting might seem awkward and rough around the edges but for me it provided a freshness to it. That one oddity about the movie would probably be enough to keep mainstream movie goers from watching it. The acting does fit in the context of the fantasy Green was trying to create and it worked remarkably well as far as I was concerned.

While George Washington may not appeal to the mainstream, it is a great change from many of the current African American inspired films of today. There are no two dimension characters engaged in vulgar humor and classic "ghettoisms'. There are no comedic mentions of baby mommas or indications of gang violence. This film eschews all of that in favor of creating human condition through the eyes of kids that are more aware of the world than the adults around them.

George Washington is an engrossing piece of filmmaking that deserves a watch.

-Nathan Lee

Lee is a regular contributor to Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition's Art Focus publication