[FILM REVIEW] ORIGIN Review (2024)

April 11, 2024April 11, 2024 Dave Abhistek Bhalarao, Akil Jackson, Alex First, Audra McDonald, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Ava DuVernay, Blair Underwood, Central Coast Radio, Connie Nielsen, Daniel Laommatzsch, David Bredin, David Griffiths, Dhrubo Jyoti, Donna Mills, Emily Yancy, Finn Wittrock, Franz Hartwig, Gaurav J Pathania, Gissette Valentin, Hannah Pniewki, Ingo Hulsmann, Isha Blaaker, Ishaan Yadav, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Jessica Fontaine, John Hahn Tester, Jon Bernthal, Konstantin Lindhorst, Lennox Simms, Leonardo Nam, Luis Lups, Malachi Malik, Matthew Zuk, Mieke Schymura, Myles Frost, Nick Offerman, Niecy Nash, Origin, Shena Verrett, Snehalata Siddarth Tagde, Stephanie March, Suraj Yengde, Thai Douglas, The Popcorn Conspiracy Radio Show, USA, Vera Farmiga, Victoria Pedretti, Zing Ashford

Summary: The unspoken system that has shaped America and chronicles how lives today are defined by a hierarchy of human divisions.

Year: 2024

Cinema Release Dates: 4th April 2024 (Australia), TBA (Thailand), 8th March 2024 (UK), 19th January 2024 (USA)

VOD Release Dates: TBA

Country: USA

Director: Ava DuVernay

Screenwriter: Ava DuVernay

Cast: Zing Ashford (Cousin Patrice), Jon Bernthal (Brett Hamilton), Abhishek Bhalerao (Professor Ram Kamble), Isha Blaaker (Allison Davis), David Bredin (Karl Klee), Thai Douglas (Teddy), Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (Isabel Wilkerson), Vera Farmiga (Kate), Jessica Fontaine (Essie), Myles Frost (Trayvon Martin), Franz Hartwig (Erich Kastner), Ingo Hulsmann (Eduard Kohlrausch), Akil Jackson (Cousin Andre), Dhrubo Jyoti (Dhrubo Jyoti), Jasmine Cephas Jones (Elizabeth Davis), Konstantin Lindhorst (Roland Freisler), Daniel Lommatzsch (Joseph Goebbels), Luis Lups (Achim Gercke), Malachi Malik (James Hale), Stephanie March (Blinky), Audra McDonald (Miss Hale), Donna Mills (Mrs Copeland), Leonardo Nam (Nathan), Niecy Nash (Marion Wilkerson), Connie Nielsen (Sabine), Nick Offerman (Dave the Plumber), Gaurav J. Pathania (Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar), Victoria Pedretti (Irma Eckler), Hannah Pniewki (Mary Gardner), Mieke Schymura (Nigella), Lennox Simms (Al Bright), Snehalata Siddarth Tagde (Dr. Jajula Z. Valicharla), John Hahn Tester (Ulrich), Blair Underwood (Amari Selvan), Gissette Valentin (Gina the Realtor), Shena Verrett (Asantewa), Finn Wittrock (August Landmesser), Ishaan Yadav (Young Ambedkar), Emily Yancy (Ruby Wilkerson), Suraj Yengde (Suraj Yengde PhD), Matthew Zuk (Burleigh Gardner)

Running Time: 141 minutes

Classification: TBC (Australia), TBC (Thailand), 12-A (UK), PG13 (USA)

OUR ORIGIN REVIEWS

David Griffiths’s Origin Review

David’s rating Out Of 5

Alex First’s Origin Review

Isabel Wilkerson (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) doesn’t know it, but she is about to lose the two most important people in her life inside a year. And a third will follow not long after.

That happens soon after she has published her first novel, which won her the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

That litany of disaster is more than most people could bear.

And yet, in spite of everything that is crumbling around her, Wilkerson finds a way to pen another important work, namely her second book.

The trigger is provided by Times editor Amari Selvan (Blair Underwood).

He prevails upon Wilkerson to write an authoritative piece in the wake of the slaying of African American Trayvon Martin (Myles Frost).

Martin was killed at the age of 17 on 26^th February, 2012. He was fatally shot by 28-year-old Hispanic American George Zimmerman.

Although Wilkerson tells Selvan that he is on hiatus from the paper and short form writing, she agrees to listen to a recording of the Martin shooting.

That precipitates a deep dive into the origin of oppression against peoples considered lowly.

Wilkerson insists this isn’t racism, rather a reflection of the caste system, whether that involves African Americans, Jews in Nazi Germany or Dalits in India.

She maintains all these people have been marginalised.

Further, she links the subjugation of the Jews in Europe to the way Americans treated Blacks.

Wilkerson sets out on a fact-finding mission, travelling to Germany and India in the process, as well as in her native America.

Agree with Wilkerson’s theory or not, the challenge for writer and director Ava DuVernay was to translate this into an understandable and watchable movie.

Her inspiration was Wilkerson’s book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.

DuVernay has chosen an artistic interpretation.

Although linear, Wilkerson’s journey is punctuated by frequent flashbacks to events that unfolded in her life and history.

The latter harks back to bold research in America’s Deep South, to a Nazi meeting determining the fate of the Jews and the emergence of a heroic Indian figure.

Although the acting is heartfelt, led admirably by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, the film took a long time to take off and then became repetitious and stretched.

Once the road that Wilkerson was on was established, getting there became somewhat tortuous.

Make no mistake, many of the incidents depicted are truly shocking. In fact, they eat into one’s psyche, but I couldn’t help thinking that I was at university being lectured.

I say that because the point seemed to proving Wilkerson’s theory, even though it was questioned along the way.

There is no doubt that I was moved by what I saw, but I was still left frustrated by the circuitous route the film took. Also featuring Jon Bernthal as Wilkerson’s husband Brett Hamilton, 100 minutes would have done me fine.

Alex’s rating Out Of 5

Average Subculture rating Out Of 5

Other Origin Reviews

Nil

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