Maybe the producers of this thing should just write this review, because I have no idea how to handle this one.
This film is about race, class, gender, poverty, disability, homelessness, and much more. It's an ensemble character musical drama whose characters end up getting stuck on the the NY subway. That scenario is the backdrop for the interaction between this group of people who represent groups who would likely never come into such intimate contact with one another and end up discussing many deep philosophical and social subjects.
On the surface, the film seems to want to air some weighty issues about race, class and gender, and opine on the evils of our entrenched societal problems and perhaps do a little to help us get "unstuck". But in doing so, it also perpetuates some of the stereotypes it wants to disrupt.
For example, when the characters are introduced, a black character is shown in a disfunctional, interracial relationship -- biased filmmakers almost never show a happy interracial relationship, they usually depict them as having problems. I don't think these filmmakers were biased because the whole point of the film was to try to discuss these tough issues. But nevertheless, the black characters and the Latino character were depicted as poor, while the white characters and the Asian character were not. The people of color were shown exhibiting intentional racism, while the white people were shown as trying to be open and accepting, but still unconsciously or inadvertently expressing bias. There were many other comments or incidents that reinforced racial stereotypes (like mentioning or showing on several occasions that Latina immigrants "do the work that Americans won't do.") I don't know why filmmakers constantly depict Latino people as lower class -- a decade ago the richest person on Earth was a Latino man.
Production-wise, it was very well made. It was originally written as a stage play and it has that stage musical feel to it. It appeared to be a relatively low-budget film, but there wasn't a lot to spend money on since the players weren't $25-million-a-pop A-listers and most of the film took place in that one location on that stuck subway. The music was great, the cinematography was well done, and the direction, writing and dialogue was top notch. And all of the main actors were fantastic without exception.
One technique I liked was the way that the filmmakers presented the vignettes that the singers were singing about -- the lyrics gave part of the story while the visuals told the difficult parts. And the other characters responded as if they got the whole message, not just the words. Very innovative. These fine filmmakers create a piece of art that starts with a collection of people who represent predefined groups, but in the end we have six well-defined individuals whose lives may not be what you expect them to be.
I'm giving this film a rating of 9, which it well deserves, it's a great film. I don't think the writers/producers had any malign intent in the way the characters were stereotyped as they were, I think that's just the way the story played out and the way the writers went about making their point, although I'd like to see a film that subtly reverses the stereotypes and portrays people of color in upper-class positions while white people are portrayed in lower-class positions and depicted as subservient to black people -- now that would make an impact!
triggers: strobe effects; violent rape scene.
rating 9/10; (submitted July 12, 2020, 10:25 a.m EDT)
