PASSING

US, 2021, 98 minutes, Black-and-white.

Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga, Andre Holland, Bill Camp, Alexander Skarsgaard.

Directed by Rebecca Hall.

By now, the word “Passing” in connection with African-American people of light-coloured tone to be identified with white people and share their life and style, undetected, sounds rather quaint. It is a word from the past. And, in the last half century or more of American history, it seems a retrograde step., especially in discussions about identity.

However, it is part of American black history that leads to a great deal of reflection about race, race attitudes, prejudice and bigotry, and the effect on the people who were passing. (There are several films in the latter part of the 1940s taking up these themes, Lost Boundaries and prominent 20^th Century Fox star, Jeanne Craine, passing in Pinky.)

With no specific indication at the opening of the film as to what year it is set, we might be speculating with the fashions, the cars, indications of prohibition, perhaps the 1930s. In fact, the setting is 1929, New York City, the contrast between Uptown at Harlem, and is based on a novel published that year by author Neva Larson. So, this is a story based on real experience.

For those who follow acting careers, it comes as a surprise (as it did to this reviewer) to find that it has been written and directed by British actress, Rebecca Hall (versatile presence in such films as Vicky Christina Barcelona and Christine). It was well known that she was the director of British doyen of theatre, Sir Peter all. But, information about this film indicates that her mother was American and that her father and grandfather was black. So, not a screenplay by a detached outside observer but by somebody who is exploring African-American experience and roots.

At the centre is the ladylike, beautifully dressed in mannered, affluent wife of a doctor in Harlem, noted for her charity work, Irene (Tessa Thompson). On a hot day, in a fashionable restaurant, she encounters a school friend whom she has not met for years, Clare (Ruth Negga). There is an awkwardness, Irene discovering clear passing for white, compounded by the arrival of her husband John (Alexander Skarsgaard), devoted to clear but expressing hateful and contemptible racism.

The drama of the film is Irene’s trying to cope with clears decisions, life, wanting her friendship, her continual presence in Harlem and feeling at home there, attentions from Iran’s Dr husband, Brian (Andre Holland). So, drama for Irene, her own identity and racial pride, dealing with the realities of passing, touches of jealousy for Clare’s quest to re-discover her black origins, quite tormenting for Irene. But, Clare seems to bloom in Harlem, continually re-visiting, enjoying the night life, the dancing, socialising, the men, her feeling at home in Harlem an increasing distance from her husband (she had witnessed his bigoted outburst to Irene).

A great deal to reflect on for all audiences, what kind of passing do we act on in our own lives, the surface, the deeper feelings, questions of where we really feel at home in our culture, in our traditions, in ourselves. If we pass, what privileges are we expecting? And this is dramatically brought to the fore when John comes to Harlem, angry, vicious, incomprehensible, feeling deceived by Clare…

The film was shot, not in colour, but in black and white, highlighting the cultural differences and with a contemporary jazz score..

1. Title? The use of the word in American society, passing for white? Prevalent in the early part of the 20^th century? Changes in attitude? (And the extent of the word for anybody passing for another culture in order to get its benefits?)
2. New York, 1929, the visuals of the city, the streets, shops, high-class restaurants, Uptown New York, Harlem, the streets, homes, the clubs?
3. The musical score, jazz, the music of the period, creating an atmosphere, clubs and Prohibition.?
4. The black-and-white photography, appropriate for the theme of passing?
5. The introduction to Irene, at the shop, wanting something for her son, not available? The audience seeing her as African-American? Affluent, her clothes and manner, the busyness of summer in the streets, going to the restaurant?
6. The encounter with Clare, not recognising her, Clare as African-American but light-skinned, able to pass? Memories, sitting down, revealing stories, Clare and her marriage to John, white, successful in business, affluent, and Irene, married, her doctor husband, children? Brian and his skills, at work?
7. John and his arrival, sudden, taking Clare’s white, assumptions about Irene? His extremely bigoted statements?
8. The effect of the encounter on Irene, going home, her life in Harlem, comfortable, Brian as a doctor, the children, their education, the maid at home, comfortable life? Irene is working charity? The range of friends and acquaintances?
9. The author, white, interested in African-American life, visits to Harlem, at the club, friendship with Irene and her friends, the encounter with Clare, his being intrigued?
10. Clare and her turning up, her loneliness in the world of passing, longing for being with black people, immersed in black culture, music, friendships? The continued visits, relationship with Brian, with the children their devotion to her, her going out to the socials, meeting the author, the other men, flirting, dancing? Feeling more and more at home, returning? Disillusioned with John after these experiences?
11. The effect on Irene, reassessing her own life, her privileges, African-American culture? Tensions with Clare, Clare and her emotions? Touches of jealousy? The observing Clare with Brian? In turmoil and manifesting this? And the children and their liking of Clare?
12. The question as to where this would lead? And John’s arrival, bigotry and hatred, the reaction to Irene, the violent reaction to Clare?
13. Clare, John, Clare’s death, lying in the snow? John sitting? The police?
14. The future for Irene after these experiences, self-reassessment, the relationship with Brian and the children? The meaning of her own life in this context?
15. The audience being involved in Irene’s dilemmas? Clare’s dilemmas? The status of African Americans in the 1920s? The changes in the 1950s, Civil Rights in the 1960s? Subsequent life for African-Americans – but continued racist attitudes in the US?