98% The Interrupters

***SPOILERS***Documentary reviews are always a rocky climb for me. At the core, I just never know how to approach them. Both Exit Through the Gift Shop and Crumb came easy to me, but films like The Cove and Waiting for Superman just seemed too academic for my writing style. It has nothing to do with the films' quality?"in fact, I found Waiting for Superman, in particular, to be a moving film with ample amounts of compelling human drama. But what separates movies like Crumb and Hoop Dreams, I am now finding out, is the characters' relationship to the issue at hand. In Waiting for Superman, I was touched, but I felt no attachment to the film, much less any desire to write about it. It's because in such a film, the issue controls the characters. Education depravity and school lotteries are very real situations that effect thousands of children throughout the country, but the film's content seemed like something I could have read in a newspaper article or a book.In The Interrupters, the characters are not controlled by the issue. Following Ceasefire, a group of ex-convicts now dedicated to stopping violence on the streets of Chicago, Steve James (director of Hoop Dreams) reveals that violence doesn't control anyone?"it's an addiction; a disease contracted and then spread throughout the community. But through the simple power of listening and understanding, Ceasefire is proving that you can fight such an disease, and thus proving that the power of human determination trumps an issue that's plagued not only America metropolitan areas, but the world for years and years.The death rate in poor Chicago areas trumps almost any other region, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Gang violence has taken on a new meaning in the famed city. Once ruled by major gangs headed by powerful leaders, they have eroded over time into small cliques that wage against neighborhood rivals over petty grievances and property lines. Many of the subjects followed in the film seem hopelessly on track towards a life of crime, guided by peer pressures and the presumption that if you don't fight back, you're a bitch. But in reality, if you fight back: you go to prison, or you die.Nobody understands this parallel more than the three Interrupters James follows throughout the film. Ameena Matthews' father was a major gang lord, who's slowly spread violence eventually landed his daughter in jail. Cobe Williams, a former convict, found his calling after leaving jail and being approached by his crying son. Eddie Bocanagra murdered someone and went to prison for 14 years at the age of 17. All three witnessed the preciously thin line between life and death; freedom and captivity. And much like prison, they recognize the youth are also trapped in their communities, victims of peer pressure and a lack of education and support.Flamo, one of the convertees of Cobe's work, says himself that if his father had been there for him, he wouldn't have gotten into so much trouble as a youth. Desperate for a father figure, or a friend for that matter, Cobe realizes he cannot change Flamo's mind in one sitting. One aspect the program stresses heavily is re-visits, where the Interrupters don't settle with one session, but continually contact and spend time with victims of violent brainwashing. The movie moves from one subject to the next, showing signs of promise and recovery each time out. But Flamo represents (what appears to be) a truly lost case. In and out of prison for 15 years, Flamo calls Cobe over a dispute involving his mother and brother being arrested. Convinced he knows the squealers, he goes into a rage, hellbent on killing whoever shoved their noses into his family's business. When asked what he could possibly do for him, Cobe responds, ?I can't do anything but get to know you and spend some time with you.?? Flamo mocks him, ?What, you gonna take me out to lunch??? Flamo jokes because he is numb to genuine human connectivity, always kicked down by his loved ones and beat around by his peers, but Cobe is serious. He takes Flamo out to lunch, and then brings him along to a Ceasefire meeting, where he proposes a question to the group that matches Flamo's situation, and they talk it out. James' capture of Flamo's fixated gaze as the members discuss his emotions and relate the best solutions is a moment of pure, raw emotion and insight into a seemingly hopeless victim of neighborhood violence.It reflects the power of a group like Ceasefire, but it also reveals why Steve James has propelled himself to the top of the list of important filmmakers. Unflinching in his intimacy and relentless in his pursuit of drama, James is completely dedicated to his subjects, spending a year in the dangerous neighborhoods of Chicago. Much like Hoop Dreams, for which he spent four years with his main characters, it almost seems lucky that James stumbles onto these uniquely troubling and fascinating situations. But it's only a product of his dedication. Unlike a script, which can pick and choose its moments of drama, James relies on people to be themselves. He settles with them, slowly builds their trust through interviews and backstories, and then reveals them during their most fiery and emotional moments. He understands that humans, not money/politics/religion, control social issues, especially the epidemic of violence. Only through our understanding of the individuals plagued by violence can we even begin to address such an issue, and James provided us with a two-hour portrait that attacks the deepest reasons for some of violence's worst beneficiaries.It seems a simple approach, but many documentaries simply cannot keep the main characters from filtering through stone-cold facts. The level an audience can connect with such a film is limited. Cobe Williams attended Urbana, Illinois' screening of The Interrupters and answered many questions, almost all of which were inquisitions about Ceasefire (well, I wanted to know about James). This is where I finally discovered that parallel of issue-based versus character-based documentaries. The audience members were so attached to the subjects of the film that there was a genuine lust for knowledge regarding Ceasefire. After a documentary like Waiting for Superman, we know all the facts. The only thing we can't have is more time with the people involved in the school lottery system. The Interrupters dedicates each and every treasured moment to its subjects, without whom such an emotional film wouldn't exist. After understanding the people, we can begin to understand the issue?"and not necessarily the meticulous statistics and numbers, but why such details speak larger volumes. You can't script a better character than anybody in this film?"they are in-the-flesh, raw and biting people who need peace, love and understanding more than they need money or jobs. And the Cobe Williams', Ameena Matthews', Eddie Bocanagra's?"and Steve James'?"of the world are providing it.Read more reviews at http://cinemabeans.blogspot.com/

September 13, 2011

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_interrupters_2011/

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