Good Hair [Madman]

Column: The Word on DVDs | Date Published: Tuesday, 28 September 10 | Author: Allan Sko | 2 years, 7 months ago

Comedian Chris Rock has made a fine living for himself through his incendiary stand-up. While a significant portion of his humour comprises the prerequisite sex, drugs and race relations much like compatriot funster Dave Chappelle, Rock has also proven himself to be a deeply intelligent and socially conscious person over the years through talking head appearances in documentaries such as Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine.

Good Hair is an excellent example of this. Spurned to action when his daughter asked him “Daddy, how come I don’t have good hair?” Rock takes what could have simply been a knee-slapping jaunt into the comedy of the ghetto and instead provides us with a fascinating and eye-opening documentary about cultural pressure for black women to have “white woman hair”, and the roaring hair trade that goes with it. Anchored by a focus on the Bronner Brothers’ annual hair convention in Atlanta and the colourful characters therein, Rock takes us on a journey from the barbershops of the slums to the spiritual heartland of India; the main supply line for hair. Through scores of interviews – including hair trade contestants, vox pops, plus notables such as Ice T, Eve, Salt N Pepa and the utterly wonderful Maya Angelou – Rocks discovers the dangerous and poisonous lengths people will go to for their image, the enormous financial strain this imbues, and the roaring international hair trade where religion and commerce unite. What makes this documentary truly successful is Rock allows his subject to do the talking, sliding in enough comedy to maintain the interest without becoming try-hard funny. As a result, we have an enjoyable and educational documentary well worth your time.

	New York, I Love You [Madman]: New York, I Love You, created and produced by Emmanuel Banbihy, is a collection of short films from various directors, based around the central theme of love in The Big Apple. The shorts vary in style, but also quality. Some are funny, some sad; some are good, some bad. The best films are those that take an irreverent approach to depicting love. Shunji Iwai directs an enjoyable mini-rom-com, with Orlando Bloom and Christina Ricci. Brett Ratner directs another somewhat more biting but equally light piece, starring Anton Yelchin and Olivia Thirlby. Mira Nair directs a film portraying the relationship between two diamond dealers, a Jaim man (Irrfan Khan) and Jewish woman (Natalie Portman), which is interesting for its multicultural take on New York and its community of people that is as multifaceted as diamonds. One memorable film, directed by Shekhar Kapur and starring Shia LaBeouf, is out of place among the others in the film. It’s difficult to know whether to applaud Kapur for attempting to do something interesting with the short film format, or criticize him for making a film nobody will understand. It’s difficult to make something like this work as a whole – each film is so distinct, the themes so diverse, and the styles so different – and New York is edited together with snapshots and segues that are meant to make the film more cohesive. The overall effect, though, is somewhat contrived. Rather than attempting to bring these films together, it might have been better to let each film stand alone. The special features include the Scarlett Johansson directed short, These Vagabond Shoes, that was cut from the theatrical release, as well as another film Apocrypha, directed by Andrey Zytagintsev.

	The Greatest [Village Roadshow]: If you can look past the melodrama of The Greatest, you will discover a genuine drama. Rose (Carey Mulligan) and Bennett (Aaron Johnson) are just a young couple in love – until Bennett is suddenly killed in a car crash. Three months later Rose turns up on his parents’ – Allen (Pierce Brosnan) and Grace (Susan Sarandon) – doorstep, three months pregnant. The Greatest follows the grieving family as they struggle to come to terms with their loss. There are great performances from almost everyone involved. Carey Mulligan has natural charm, and a glowing iridescent beauty. She brings a quiet confidence and self-assurance to the role. Pierce Brosnan delivers a standout performance as Bennett’s grief-stricken father. There are moments when his face contorts with such acute anguish, it is almost painful to watch. But his sorrow is subtle, especially in comparison to Susan Sarandon’s portrayal of a breakdown. Her performance has some moments of realism, but at other times is too exaggerated. Johnny Simmons, recently seen in Scott Pilgrim, turns in a solid performance as Bennett’s black sheep brother. If there’s anything to criticise, it’s that such great performances are let down by a slightly unoriginal script, which occasionally threatens to veer into melodrama. It’s a testament to actors like Mulligan and Brosnan that even when delivering incredibly clichéd lines, they still sound true. The film is especially interesting in that the character the audience ends up liking the most – Bennett – is hardly in the film at all. But in just a few brief scenes Aaron Johnson brings to life a genuinely likeable person. Watching the film, you also feel his loss. The Greatest isn’t the greatest film, but it’s good, with some moments of beauty.