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| USA 1990 |
In Charles Burnett’s 1990 succès
d’estime, Paul Butler is quietly heroic as Gideon, a man of the
South transplanted to Los Angeles who, with his wife, Suzie (Mary Alice),
has raised two sons (Carl Lumbly and Richard Brooks) according to the
standards of hard work and old-time religion. Danny Glover gives his
best performance—both ticklish and upsetting—as Harry Mention,
an old acquaintance from down home who finagles his way into Gideon’s
family and exposes its fault lines. With his beguiling chivalry, Harry
inspires Gideon and Suzie’s nostalgia for the surefooted courtliness
that has all but disappeared from their fragmented, contemporary lives,
then proceeds to unleash forces of discord that bring family antagonisms
to a flash point. This eccentric comedy-drama is a truly folkloric film.
Burnett and his cast tap depths of mystery, soulfulness, and glee. –
Michael Sragow, New Yorker This extraordinary film, winner of a Special Jury Prize at the 1990 US Film Festival, draws on the potency of symbols and traditions in black folklore to tell a story about the conflicting currents of contemporary black life. Danny Glover gives a powerfully unsettling performance as Harry Mention, a visitor from the Deep South who brings superstition and evil into a divided Los Angeles household. Harry seems all vibrant charm and quaint back-home ways, until family members begin to notice a disturbing aura around him. He has a talent for sowing seeds of doubt in the people around him and for stirring up conflicts left and right. “You gotta work at evil”, Harry says, and work at it he does. His superstitious tokens and rituals soon begin to take over this middle class household, and family members begin to take sick or go crazy… This is a film of rich textures and multiple layers of meaning. Its story unfolds slowly at first, but as its theme takes hold, To Sleep with Anger gains a momentum that makes it absolutely riveting. – Vancouver International Film Festival |
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