'3 Black Chicks Review...'
ANOTHER PLANET (1999) Rated R; running time 90 minutes Genre: Drama Scheduled release date: Summer 2000 IMDB site: http://us.imdb.com/Details?0211201 Written by: Christene Browne Directed by: Christene Browne Music by: Donald Quan Starring: Sandy Daley, Kevin White, Marcia Brown, Daniel Levesque, Monique MacDonald, Tiemoko Simaga, Mathieu Dutan, Panchetta S. Barnett
Review Copyright Rose Cooper, 2000 Review URL: http://www.3blackchicks.com/bamsanother.html
"A child on the farm sees a plane fly overhead and dreams of a faraway place. A traveler on the plane sees the farmhouse and thinks of home." -Carl Burns
Perhaps Mr. Burns had ANOTHER PLANET in mind when he said that.
The Story (WARNING: **spoilers contained below**):
The synopsis from the official press release says it best:
"Cassandra Jones [Sandy Daley] is a young woman from Toronto with a very active imagination and a unique view of the world. Feeling trapped by life in her low-income community, and unable to relate to her brother Patrick [Kevin White], a petty criminal, or her overly pious mother, Mary [Marcia Brown], Cassandra decides to leave Toronto. She applies and is accepted into an exchange program between Quebec and West Africa. When she reaches her Quebec destination, a pig farm, she encounters Sylvie Leblanc [Monique MacDonald], a woman in need of change, her husband Luc Leblanc [Daniel Levesque], a man afraid of change, and Abdoulaye Diallo [Tiemoko Simaga], her African exchange counterpart and a man who regrets his decision to seek change.
Because none of her expectations are met, Cassandra quickly becomes unhappy on the farm. Her presence creates plenty of tension, much of it humorous. A surprising conclusion comes about after a roller-coaster series of events.
ANOTHER PLANET explores how we define ourselves be it by our gender, race, class or simply by what we eat, how we dress or what we believe in. The film is essentially a journey in self-discovery; a journey we all must take at some time in our lives."
The Upshot: It must be said right off: those of us who are more accustom to watching movies, as opposed to films, will likely have a bit of difficulty with writer/director Christene Browne's ANOTHER PLANET. Unpolished and somewhat slow-paced at first blush, it takes some patience and an open mind to enjoy and understand fully. If subtitles go right over your head, or if you equate success with bonzo-boxoffice, you might be prone to shrug off films like this. If that describes your mindframe, read the above synopsis again and consider this: instead of being a celebration of self-discovery as told by an independent filmmaker, in the hands of a big-budget writer/director, ANOTHER PLANET would probably have had Cassandra be a neck-twistin', gum-snappin' hoochie mama out to get pi-zaid, Patrick a gang-bangin' b-ballin' playa, mother Mary a neglectful crackhead, and Diallo a race-hating pimp. As I contemplated that very nightmare while watching Browne's film, I gained a greater appreciation of the vast difference between most independent filmmakers and Hollywood's "finest"--and the film came across much easier for that realization.
To be sure, "Planet" takes some getting used to, from both the story aspect as well as the "physical" film quality itself. Cassandra's africentric storyline, though familiar to me with my own strong africentric leanings, was still quite different as it was flavored with her West Indies upbringing--which I, as a native Detroiter, could only imagine second-hand. The spiritual character of Moko Jumbie, central to the outcome of the story, was something I struggled to understand (and in the end, failed to fully grasp, even with the help of the writer herself). And as anyone from Detroit who goes across the river to Windsor could tell you, understanding French Canadian language can be a challenge in and of itself.
It was worth the challenge, though; through Browne's interpretation of her own personal experiences, many familiar faces break through the somewhat unfamiliar surface. The characters may have had a different accent, but I could see many old friends and kin in Cassandra, and Mary, and even in Sylvie and Luc. And never before have I seen the face of God in the person of a "Majestic Black Woman" (played by Pancheta S. Barnett)--but, why not? Seeing God really listening to prayers, was a moment unlike any other I've seen on film before; try that in a mainstream flick, and watch the sparks fly...
The performers, for the most part, do well. Sandy Daley plays Cassandra with a light touch of humor, and without the go-girlness that is so prevalent in U.S. movie productions starring Black women; though she could use more acting experience, anyone that could hold a squealing piglet and not turn up her nose at the ordeal, is okay by me. As Patrick, Kevin White left a little something to be desired; of all the main characters, his performance just didn't work for me. On the other end of the acting spectrum, however, Marcia Brown's Mary conveyed the bible-thumping while lotto-playing paradox with a sense of humor reminiscent of the late Helen Martin in movies like DON'T BE A MENACE(etc) and HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE.
Daniel Levesque, as Luc, and Monique MacDonald as his wife Sylvie, were more difficult to grasp early on, though as the film progressed, the Sylvie character became more defined, primarily through her interactions with Cassandra. The battle-of-the-sexes, with Cassandra and Sylvie on the one side, and Luc and African exchange student Diallo on the other, was a subplot that wasn't as well developed as it could've been (and paled in comparison to some of the more stringent "Mars vs Venus" battles we've seen in mainstream flicks. Not that that's A Bad Thing...); but Tiemoko Simaga (who spoke mostly French throughout) was good as the somewhat chauvinistic Malian who opened Cassandra's eyes to something she already had within her grasp. In a refreshing change from American movie norms, Mathieu Dutan plays Jean "Johnny" Leblanc with all of the humor and none of the brattiness of his American contemporaries. And almost a character itself, Donald Quan's background instrumental music added an unexpected richness to this film.
Believed to be the first Black woman to write, direct and produce a feature film in Canada, Browne's background makes for an interesting story itself; in the tradition of independent filmmakers the world over, she struggled to raise money to make and distribute her film, which is based on her time in an exchange program working on a pig farm in Quebec. I hope she goes on to do another film based on her time working in Mali; it would be one of only a few "part two" stories that I'd look forward to seeing.
If you're looking for a Hollywood-type offering, look elsewhere. Then remember how bloody awful Hollywood's offerings have been thus far this year, and reconsider ANOTHER PLANET. I found myself glad for the exposure to a world outside of what usually passes before my eyes on the Silver Screen, and I look forward to seeing more from Browne's pen and camera.
The "Black Factor" [ObDisclaimer: We Are Not A Monolith]: What, you thought that there'd be no BF for ANOTHER PLANET just because it's a Black film? Tsk...whaddya think "We Are Not A Monolith" means, eh?
Americans have a tendency to be strongly Americentric; we generally act like the world revolves around us, and that our viewpoint is the de facto standard. Unfortunately, this tendency doesn't escape Black Americans, though (in a Monolithic way) you'd think We'd be more sensitive to such things. Past the entry-level "shock" that often comes with dealing with a more personal film (as opposed to a megaconglomerate studio-backed blockbuster movie), many Americans might view the LeBlancs as not very much like any White folks they ever met, by gum! Similarly, many Blacks might see scenes such as Cassandra braiding Sylvie's hair, for example, and grumble something or other about how We Can't Keep Anything For Ourselves, Doggonit.
Of course, this is shortsighted thinking; just another reason that we (and We) should be exposed to more multicultural experiences. Not that we should beat ourselves up overmuch for our Americentricity; we've been hoodwinked (ObMalcolmXTheMovie: been bamboozled! run amuck! led astray!) by propagandistic politicians and media outlets for so long about our Rightful Place In The Sun, that it takes a lot for us to realize that there are other cultures out there with experiences and worldviews that are every bit as legitimate as ours, even when they diverge sharply from our own. Even when members of those cultures look so much like us. And, of course, Us.
Substitute "I" and "me" for "we" and "us" in the above, and you get the general gist of my own experience watching ANOTHER PLANET for the first time.
Bammer's Bottom Line: Though cultural differences may leave you wondering exactly how one plot point leads to another in this film, there is no doubt that writer/director Browne's personal experiences and quest for self-discovery, as told in Cassandra's story, have a universality that is easy to identify with. Monolith or no, I most def Felt her desire to explore and defend her "Africanness", all the way down to my nappy roots.
ANOTHER PLANET (rating: greenlight): No, ANOTHER PLANET doesn't have the Spit 'N Polish shine that a big-budget flick has--but considering the way mainstream Hollywood has been spitting on its audiences lately, maybe that's A Good Thing.
[ANOTHER PLANET is scheduled to be released in art film-outlets this summer; stay tuned to 3BC for an upcoming interview with Bams and filmmaker Christene Browne.]
3 Black Chicks...Movie Reviews With Flava! /~\ Rose "Bams" Cooper /','\ 3BlackChicks Enterprises /','`'\ Copyright Rose Cooper, 2000 /',',','/`, EMAIL: bams@3blackchicks.com ICQ: 7760005 `~-._'c / http://www.3blackchicks.com/ `\ ( http://www.evenbetter.com/?partner=1987 /====\
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews