I must have been really out of it for 2016 to miss a film
like Fences. What a great example of
layered dramatic acting by Denzel Washington who plays the bitter, brow beaten
Troy and Viola Davis as Rose, his long
suffering wife. The film also has a lot to say about the
black working class family, particularly their struggles to emerge from the
desperate poverty that afflicted most black folks for much of the early 20th
century. This was because of the racist white institutional structure that kept
them down in a state of abject dependency. I’m not surprised that Davis won the
Oscar for best female supporting actress and I wouldn’t have been surprised if
Denzel won for best actor although a
nomination was a given.
The film, which takes place in the 1950s, is basically about Troy Maxson (Denzel
Washington) who is bitter about his missed opportunity of being a professional
baseball player because he was considered too old when the major leagues
started accepting blacks. He then became a lowly sanitation worker but the pain
of his missed opportunity eventually takes its toll on his family life which is
held together by Rose (Viola Davis), his long suffering wife. Troy’s bitterness
extends to his son Cory (Jovan Adepo) who he denies the chance to meet a
football recruiter from college because of either his own fear that his son
will fail or that he will be jealous of his success. This film or movie play opens with Troy
towards the end and how he deals with things as they fall apart and how his
loyal wife Rose keeps everything afloat so that there’s a chance that things
can come back together again. Putting up the fence is one way to ensure that
things will hold together and the sanctity of the family will be preserved.
Positives
The performances by Washington and Davis are real standouts
here although it becomes a bit wordy on Washington’s part. His bitterness becomes wearisome and makes you really wonder
how Rose put up with Troy for so long. Troy is the seed which would not bloom
from the cold dry earth. Denzel does capture the anguish of Troy really well
because I have some experience with a patriarch who missed his chance at
becoming something major in life for various reasons. I am also aware of what it can do to the
household. As Rose says Troy had a big presence and you do get the sense he was
made for more than lowly sanitation work. His presence is all pervasive and his
sons find it difficult to escape his shadow. Rose is a quiet presence in
contrast to Troy’s loud one. She quietly moves and keeps things together while
the loud man talks and talks and even messes up from time to time. Rose does make it clear in the end why she
stuck with Troy. They filled gaps. It’s what Rocky would say explaining why he
and Adrian were such a good fit. Yes they are different but they complete each
other in a real way as opposed to a romantic one.
The supporting cast is very strong and this is a good
example of the great talent among African American actors. From Stephen
Henderson as Bono, Mykelti Williamson as Gabriel, Russell Hornsby as Lyons and,
one for the future, Jovan Adepo as Cory. The strong supporting cast of black
actors does provide some much needed perspective about the lives of black folk
during the 1950s. In this case it’s a black working class family trying to keep
its head above water. Any slip up and it’s down to a life of bitterness,
madness, despair and starvation. Rose is so important in keeping things
together that it’s not funny because most of the men around her are failed
products of society, including Troy. Their dreams shattered in some form or the
other. Her loyal son, Cory, does make something of himself and you get a sense
that it’s because he was very close to his mother. You also get a general sense
of the struggles of black folk in the early years of the 20th
century. When Troy and Bono get together to reminisce on their struggles as
young black men growing up in the white man’s world like loose cannons you do get a sense of how
they were drifters or petty criminals before they were finally grounded. Many
elements contributed to them being grounded but the most important is major
failures and small successes. Small successes like buying a house, building a
fence or buying a refrigerator. Major failures like the inability to fulfill
your potential and being restricted to a domestic space like it’s a prison. A
lot of this is revealed in the very meaty dialogue and one can obviously see
elements of the Broadway play in it. Only actors on stage are as verbose as the
characters in Fences who inhabit such a tight space. The verbosity is
compensated for because it’s very layered and the dramatic performances are
strong enough to make this seem like an everyday part of life.
There is also the generational shift which is so
important. Troy, Rose, Bono and Gabriel
are like the first generation followed by Lyons and then Cory and Raynell
(Saniyya Sidney). There are layers to the family structure and this is always
important in moving forward. Despite the struggles they must learn to stay together
through the sun and the rain. If they hold
on and stick together then there will be some progress.
Negatives
The primary negative is that this is like a movie play. It’s
structured like a play. Nothing much seems to happen beyond the original text
of the play. Why is Troy’s mistress, Abigail, off screen all the time? She
could have given much needed perspective and Troy wouldn’t have to talk so
much. A little deviance from the original play structure would have worked
wonders in such a case. Most of the action and dialogue takes place at home and
we do get some sense of Troy as a working man but for the most part it’s at
home. Cory’s story could have been expanded considerably, as well as Lyons, but
this would have taken away from Troy and Rose. It could have been a better film
though if these other lives were given more attention. It also would have
brought more perspective to the generational shift.
Denzel does go over the top with his performance for me and
maybe that’s because he has to incorporate so much into the dialogue. In a film
you would expect some of that dialogue to be diffused by imagery or a more
expanded setting. Some flashbacks wouldn’t have been so bad. I would have
gotten to visualize some of the struggles Troy was always referring to
especially his life as an aspiring professional baseball player.
Apart from that it’s a good film but could have been
expanded a bit more to incorporate the
other characters better.
