"You don't conform to what she wants suddenly you're the enemy."
— Luce Edgar
— Luce Edgar
The last movie I saw in theaters twice was The Dark Knight (2008). Luce broke the 11 year drought. This 2019 Sundance favorite features Octavia Spencer, Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, and the new and brilliant Kelvin Harrison Jr. In it, a black high school senior, Luce, unnerves his history teacher by writing a paper that calls for violence. It's complicated though. Luce is also valedictorian, track captain, and the teacher's favorite at his D.C. charter school, and the paper assignment was to assume the perspective of any political figure in history. And yet, Luce was adopted from a war torn country at the age of seven. He's seen violence. Maybe even participated in it. Then there's what the his history teacher found in his locker after searching it—a shared locker though. When I found out Luce was first a play, I picked it up for $14 from Samuel French and finished it in one sitting.
The play's story is even more condensed and clear as to the motives of everyone involved—student, peers, teacher, parents—but I greatly appreciated the film's decision to add or expand characters, characterization, symbolism, and relevant cultural subtext. I would liken this play to sort of out-of-court-room drama, a modern-day, dark Doubt, or The Winslow Boy. Depending on your reasons or prejudices, perhaps even a retelling of Paradise Lost. One of the most gripping stories I've enjoyed in years. [JG]
The play's story is even more condensed and clear as to the motives of everyone involved—student, peers, teacher, parents—but I greatly appreciated the film's decision to add or expand characters, characterization, symbolism, and relevant cultural subtext. I would liken this play to sort of out-of-court-room drama, a modern-day, dark Doubt, or The Winslow Boy. Depending on your reasons or prejudices, perhaps even a retelling of Paradise Lost. One of the most gripping stories I've enjoyed in years. [JG]
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