Since the two previously-posted comments went up prior the the 2004 Democratic National Convention keynote address, there is a 99% chance neither of the posters (both of who hailed from outside the Land of Lincoln) had heard of Barack Obama. (IMBd's spell-checker STILL hasn't--type in Barack Obama and it underlines both words in red, while "Eisenhower" and "Roosevelt" remain lily white underneath!) What a difference six or seven years make!
Now that all 11 minutes, 32 seconds of FOR JIMMY BROWN are coupled with the STEEL CITY d.v.d. as a bonus feature from the same director (Brian Jun), more people will have a chance to see the short. I watched it twice, and really did not notice that one man was black and one man was white. I DID observe that one was young, and one was old. I also perceived that one was fairly able-bodied, while the other was increasingly incapacitated. The so-called metaphor of black & white film underlining an ivory\ebony relationship can just as easily be taken to underscore the contrast between youth and age in my mind. It is really quite quaint to see how people used to blather on about race relations as the be-all and end-all of human intercourse pre-Obama.
So, given the modern post-racial world, does FOR JIMMY BROWN have anything to offer the contemporary viewer? Well, at an overall budget of $6,000, director Jun's project puts about $500 per minute on the screen. This is more than filming with my cell phone would cost, but the enhanced quality of the material--coupled with Kurtis Van Allen's Bluegrass score--probably justifies the expenditure made. Instead of a sociological commentary, I see this film as more of a puzzle. Is Jun playing the ANGEL Gabriel? Who is dead at the end--Jimmy or Gabriel? Or both? Do the post cards on Jimmy's wall indicate that the German soccer warm-up jacket was his all along? What is the significance of the priest's (played by Tom Prosser) opening remarks? What of the Bible verse Gabriel "randomly" selects out of Jimmy's Good Book to read at their first meeting? As you can see, this short raises enough questions for its under 12-minute duration. I'm just not sure there are enough hints at answers, or that the questions are in any way meaningful, which is why I rated it an ambivalent 5 out of 10. It is nice to see director Jun matured enough with his feature film STEEL CITY to answer some of the questions he broaches.
P.S.--It appears the actor who plays Jimmy Brown in the short (Dennis Lebby) had a small, uncredited role as a child killer who is Carl Lee (John Heard)'s jail cell neighbor in the feature, but the scene ended up as a "deleted" bonus feature.
Now that all 11 minutes, 32 seconds of FOR JIMMY BROWN are coupled with the STEEL CITY d.v.d. as a bonus feature from the same director (Brian Jun), more people will have a chance to see the short. I watched it twice, and really did not notice that one man was black and one man was white. I DID observe that one was young, and one was old. I also perceived that one was fairly able-bodied, while the other was increasingly incapacitated. The so-called metaphor of black & white film underlining an ivory\ebony relationship can just as easily be taken to underscore the contrast between youth and age in my mind. It is really quite quaint to see how people used to blather on about race relations as the be-all and end-all of human intercourse pre-Obama.
So, given the modern post-racial world, does FOR JIMMY BROWN have anything to offer the contemporary viewer? Well, at an overall budget of $6,000, director Jun's project puts about $500 per minute on the screen. This is more than filming with my cell phone would cost, but the enhanced quality of the material--coupled with Kurtis Van Allen's Bluegrass score--probably justifies the expenditure made. Instead of a sociological commentary, I see this film as more of a puzzle. Is Jun playing the ANGEL Gabriel? Who is dead at the end--Jimmy or Gabriel? Or both? Do the post cards on Jimmy's wall indicate that the German soccer warm-up jacket was his all along? What is the significance of the priest's (played by Tom Prosser) opening remarks? What of the Bible verse Gabriel "randomly" selects out of Jimmy's Good Book to read at their first meeting? As you can see, this short raises enough questions for its under 12-minute duration. I'm just not sure there are enough hints at answers, or that the questions are in any way meaningful, which is why I rated it an ambivalent 5 out of 10. It is nice to see director Jun matured enough with his feature film STEEL CITY to answer some of the questions he broaches.
P.S.--It appears the actor who plays Jimmy Brown in the short (Dennis Lebby) had a small, uncredited role as a child killer who is Carl Lee (John Heard)'s jail cell neighbor in the feature, but the scene ended up as a "deleted" bonus feature.