Jim McKay has made one of the best films you will see all year.The quiet simplicity of this film draws you in from the opening shot and never lets go.There is not one false note in the entire film.Not one.Everything works.The hand-held camera is never distracting and always where it should be.The three young ladies whose lives we follow are always real.There isn't a single beat where the audience is reminded we are looking at actresses performing a role.These are just real girls trying to find themselves.There is no political agenda,hidden or otherwise.This is cinema at its most basic,and although it will probably only be seen by a handful of movie-goers,it deserves a much wider release.A special hats off to Hugh Hefner for providing the film-makers with the grant money needed to get this important film made.I can't wait to see what Mr. McKay does next.
16 Reviews
One of the most interesting films I've seen in a while...
lesyle20 January 2002
I saw this film earlier today, and I was amazed at how accurate the dialog is for the main characters. It didn't feel like a film - it felt more like a documentary (the part I liked best). The leading ladies in this film seemed as real to me as any fifteen year-old girls I know.
All in all, a very enjoyable film for those who enjoy independent films.
All in all, a very enjoyable film for those who enjoy independent films.
Super realism
jro-225 April 2000
I recently saw this amazing movie at the San Francisco International Film Festival. I didn't know what to expect, but what I saw was a revelation. From beginning to end, I felt immersed in the movie feeling that the experience I was having was not a movie, but an actual slice of real life. In the question and answer session with Jim McKay after the movie, it became clear why this was the case. McKay spent a total of about 3-4 years on this movie, including one year hanging out with the (real) marching band in the movie. Preparation like this is what gave the film its incredible authenticity, the feeling of being there along with three teenagers in Brooklyn. I also appreciate McKay taking his time with each scene, letting one scene flow organically into another, instead of the quick cuts from scene to scene you tend to see in major studio movies (and most of the indie movies I've seen--many of which just aspire to be mainstream movies). If you didn't happen to catch it at the Film Festival, I highly recommend seeing it when it starts getting distributed (McKay said that looks like either Fall 2000 or Spring 2001). Personally, I can't wait to see it again.
Oooh, child....
=G=8 May 2003
"Our Song" looks at three inner-city (Brooklyn, NY) High School girl best friends with a surprisingly natural realism considering how much male DNA is behind the film. The trio of principals (Washington, Martinez, Simpson) get down with the issues of day-to-day living in the projects as they deal with parental units, girl issues, school, boys, etc. making for a pleasant and easy-going watch devoid of the usual sex, drugs, and rap-n-roll one might expect to see. An unusually believable and enjoyable watch as indies go, "Our Song" will probably play best with females. (C+)
An undiscovered gem
howard.schumann2 February 2004
"Some day, we'll walk in the rays of a beautiful sun. Some day, when the world is much brighter"- The 5 Stairsteps "O-o-h Child"
Movies about Black teenagers usually involve inner city gangs dealing drugs or committing violence to a hip-hop soundtrack. Films about the everyday problems of ordinary inner city teens are hard to find, yet there is an undiscovered gem that I would like to recommend. Our Song, by Jim McKay is about three girls in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn who learn that their high school will be closed for asbestos removal and must decide on their future direction, one that may involve going their separate ways. The story is told from the point of view of a 15-year old, not from an adult reminiscing about the past as in most coming of age movies. Avoiding the mandatory street slang and excessive use of F-words, it delivers an honest and loving portrait of three friends at a crossroads in their life. The girls: Lanisha (Kerry Washington), Joycelyn (Anna Simpson), and Maria (Melissa Martinez) are in their sophomore year at the local high school. They are active members of the Jackie Robinson Steppers, a real-life marching band whose rehearsals for a Labor Day parade provide discipline and purpose to their lives.
Similar to David Gordon Green's George Washington but less stylized, the film showcases non-professional black and Latino actors with Kerry Washington as the standout. While the performances have some amateurish moments, I became so involved with the story that I forgot the girls were even acting. Maria, whose father is in jail, has learned that she is pregnant by Terrell, a local student. She wants to have the baby in spite of the fact that she is only 15 and knows that Terrell is probably not going to be of much help. Joycelyn works in an up-scale dress shop but dreams about becoming a singer. In a very poignant scene in her bedroom, she pretends to be talking to her fans, then lies down in bed to recite one of her poems. She is close to Lanisha and Maria at the beginning but drifts off to make friends outside of the neighborhood. None of the girls receive much support at home and Maria is too afraid to even tell her mother about her baby. Yet, the single moms are not typical movie deadbeats or alcoholics. They are warm and loving parents whose time with their children is limited because of the pressure of supporting the family.
Lanisha's parents are divorced but she is able to visit her father, a doorman in a luxury apartment building and talk about music. Her mother is comforting when Lanisha learns that a friend in the neighborhood has committed suicide, a somewhat melodramatic plot point in an otherwise realistic film. As the summer winds down, the girls drift apart and each decides on a different course. There are no big dramatic moments, however, only the sad recognition of the inevitability of change. Though we do not have blinders on about the frustrations that may await them, we identify with their hopes and dreams without dwelling on the negative. Our Song is an emotionally satisfying film about growing up in the projects that refuses to see life in any terms other than possibility.
Movies about Black teenagers usually involve inner city gangs dealing drugs or committing violence to a hip-hop soundtrack. Films about the everyday problems of ordinary inner city teens are hard to find, yet there is an undiscovered gem that I would like to recommend. Our Song, by Jim McKay is about three girls in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn who learn that their high school will be closed for asbestos removal and must decide on their future direction, one that may involve going their separate ways. The story is told from the point of view of a 15-year old, not from an adult reminiscing about the past as in most coming of age movies. Avoiding the mandatory street slang and excessive use of F-words, it delivers an honest and loving portrait of three friends at a crossroads in their life. The girls: Lanisha (Kerry Washington), Joycelyn (Anna Simpson), and Maria (Melissa Martinez) are in their sophomore year at the local high school. They are active members of the Jackie Robinson Steppers, a real-life marching band whose rehearsals for a Labor Day parade provide discipline and purpose to their lives.
Similar to David Gordon Green's George Washington but less stylized, the film showcases non-professional black and Latino actors with Kerry Washington as the standout. While the performances have some amateurish moments, I became so involved with the story that I forgot the girls were even acting. Maria, whose father is in jail, has learned that she is pregnant by Terrell, a local student. She wants to have the baby in spite of the fact that she is only 15 and knows that Terrell is probably not going to be of much help. Joycelyn works in an up-scale dress shop but dreams about becoming a singer. In a very poignant scene in her bedroom, she pretends to be talking to her fans, then lies down in bed to recite one of her poems. She is close to Lanisha and Maria at the beginning but drifts off to make friends outside of the neighborhood. None of the girls receive much support at home and Maria is too afraid to even tell her mother about her baby. Yet, the single moms are not typical movie deadbeats or alcoholics. They are warm and loving parents whose time with their children is limited because of the pressure of supporting the family.
Lanisha's parents are divorced but she is able to visit her father, a doorman in a luxury apartment building and talk about music. Her mother is comforting when Lanisha learns that a friend in the neighborhood has committed suicide, a somewhat melodramatic plot point in an otherwise realistic film. As the summer winds down, the girls drift apart and each decides on a different course. There are no big dramatic moments, however, only the sad recognition of the inevitability of change. Though we do not have blinders on about the frustrations that may await them, we identify with their hopes and dreams without dwelling on the negative. Our Song is an emotionally satisfying film about growing up in the projects that refuses to see life in any terms other than possibility.
A great coming of age film that gets into the mind of girls.
dfryer23 April 2003
I reflect back to the days when I held my boyfriends hat to smell him into existence in my time alone when I was 16. The little moments of this film are so accurate and right on pace with what is going on in the minds and hearts of young girls during those coming of age teenage years. Now at my age I want to preach to them about their decisions and how life during those times are not as important as it all seems in those moments. That if they can be patient in their youth and wait to experience the hardships of life both external and internal that life would be so much sweeter. But then again young people today are faced with some variables that I never had to deal with a youth.
The three main characters well played by all three actors (Kerry Wahington - Lanisha, Anna Simpson - Joycelyn and Melissa Martinez- Maria) give us the very believable depiction of a piece of reality for young girls living in impoverished situations. They have impoverished family lives all being raised by single mothers with expectation of Lanisha whose father is present but not actively supporting her day to day. The have impoverished educational systems and lack direct contact with achieving role models. These situations powerfully affect them and is their reality but all this is of no great depressive concern to these young women in their day to day. They except their plight and focus on the same things young girls all over the world are concerned with. Finding true love in a male, having good friends that you can depend on, gaining some respect/love and responsibility from parents and enjoying life. This is were this film cross the race, age and gender gap imposed upon it by its characters and the setting in which it is stamped.
The Director and writer McKay explains on the DVD how each of scenes got into his head, by just observing young people of that age that lived in those types of neighborhoods. Plus you add three up and coming actresses who are not so far removed from that time in their own lives that you get a real good synergy of reality and acting at its best. The one thing I know about (African Americans and Hispanics) is that there is always a spiritual family member or neighbor that is in the foreground or near ground believing in a better day and better life and future in spite of the present situation and is role modeling that to some extent. This was never touched in the movie in order not to preach and I understand that but it also narrows the culture to having no hope in anything other than themselves.
The HOPE FACTOR: I now think about my future and where I have come from and say as Lanisha did ` Today is a good day.' Yes poverty still exists, racism, sexism, and any other ism that we can added. Yes some of each of these young girls actions perpetuate the isms and are self-destructive, everything around them is impoverished but NONE of those actions past or neither present nor their environment leaves them without hope for a bright future. I was left with saddened hope of each of the characters and a deeper desire to be a role model in the life of some young girl on the edge of making a destructive decision. I suppose that is the value of film it should not only entertain but cause each of us to think, reflect and then act in some positive way to make this world a better place.
The three main characters well played by all three actors (Kerry Wahington - Lanisha, Anna Simpson - Joycelyn and Melissa Martinez- Maria) give us the very believable depiction of a piece of reality for young girls living in impoverished situations. They have impoverished family lives all being raised by single mothers with expectation of Lanisha whose father is present but not actively supporting her day to day. The have impoverished educational systems and lack direct contact with achieving role models. These situations powerfully affect them and is their reality but all this is of no great depressive concern to these young women in their day to day. They except their plight and focus on the same things young girls all over the world are concerned with. Finding true love in a male, having good friends that you can depend on, gaining some respect/love and responsibility from parents and enjoying life. This is were this film cross the race, age and gender gap imposed upon it by its characters and the setting in which it is stamped.
The Director and writer McKay explains on the DVD how each of scenes got into his head, by just observing young people of that age that lived in those types of neighborhoods. Plus you add three up and coming actresses who are not so far removed from that time in their own lives that you get a real good synergy of reality and acting at its best. The one thing I know about (African Americans and Hispanics) is that there is always a spiritual family member or neighbor that is in the foreground or near ground believing in a better day and better life and future in spite of the present situation and is role modeling that to some extent. This was never touched in the movie in order not to preach and I understand that but it also narrows the culture to having no hope in anything other than themselves.
The HOPE FACTOR: I now think about my future and where I have come from and say as Lanisha did ` Today is a good day.' Yes poverty still exists, racism, sexism, and any other ism that we can added. Yes some of each of these young girls actions perpetuate the isms and are self-destructive, everything around them is impoverished but NONE of those actions past or neither present nor their environment leaves them without hope for a bright future. I was left with saddened hope of each of the characters and a deeper desire to be a role model in the life of some young girl on the edge of making a destructive decision. I suppose that is the value of film it should not only entertain but cause each of us to think, reflect and then act in some positive way to make this world a better place.
Not too impressed
mbove00127 November 2004
As a young black/latina woman I am always searching for movies that represent the experiences and lives of people like me. Of course when I saw this movie at the video store I thought I would enjoy it; unfortunately, I didn't. Although the topics presented in the film are interesting and relevant, the story was simply not properly developed. The movie just kept dragging on and on and many of the characters that appear on screen just come and go without much to contribute to the overall film. Had the director done a better job interconnecting the scenes, perhaps I would have enjoyed it a bit more. Honestly, I would recommend a film like "Raising Victor" over this one any day. I just was not too impressed.
A quietly great coming of age story
lwong25 April 2000
`Our Song' gives us the lives of the three teenagers Lanisha, Maria and Joycelyn - best girlfriends hanging at the end of summer. Adolescent summer - even if we don't know the signals and landmarks of this particular terrain, Crown Heights, Brooklyn - is/was the same for us all. A lazy respite from the pressures and tumult of school. Welcome heat and idleness.
But if this experience of adolescence is universal, the inner city of the 90s is a different place than most of us know - maybe as foreign a country as any. Young bodies carving new silhouettes...beckoning new territory...the maze towards adulthood. The young mind coming into itself, speaking for itself, saying this is who I am, this is who I want to try to be. It is/was always thus. But this is how it plays out in Brooklyn in the late 90s.
Jim McKay is the writer/director of this film project but he acknowledges all who have shouted suggestions at him. The opening title slide `A film by' seems to list everyone in the universe. It's a gesture but by the end of the film, we know it to be a genuine one. [The closing titles also have some of the most on-the-money and appreciative credits I've read.] The vivid sound recording by Jan McLaughlin deserves to be especially noted. McKay's a modest leader who knows who is telling this story - it's his three graces Lanisha, Maria and Joycelyn. They're the real thing, their interactions have the fire of real friendship and the focus of reality. This ain't no music video shorthand telling of teenage life. It has the seriousness of the long unblinking stare.
Hanging out with them, we don't quite feel included but we do feel privileged to be listening in. These are real voices speaking with plainness about the crises and dullness of daily life. We are witness to the modern math of teenage life - how its problems are interpreted, calculated and summed and solved. Small scenes illustrate large thoughts throughout. Lanisha hangs with her dad at his security job - it's the only way she gets to spend time with him. We see the love that exists between them but also the failures of family and fatherhood. In a connected scene, Lanisha defends her dad to her mom, and we see how desperately she needs to love them both and for them to love her in return. Later, the three friends lay in the dark sharing visions and dreams - and we remember how crazy/funny kids are and more tragically, how realism hammers idealism these days. And at the end, Maria simply walking down the street is a short story in itself. We see her gather up the courage to hold all her fears and doubts at bay. She demonstrates for us the strength one needs to have to be able to embrace the fragility that makes life livable.
`Our Song's greatest gift is that we really feel deeply the terribly ephemeral nature of friendship - how, one day, alive and enlivening, that intimacy can, in the next, just turn and drift away. It's awful, but that's just the way it is, isn't it?
But if this experience of adolescence is universal, the inner city of the 90s is a different place than most of us know - maybe as foreign a country as any. Young bodies carving new silhouettes...beckoning new territory...the maze towards adulthood. The young mind coming into itself, speaking for itself, saying this is who I am, this is who I want to try to be. It is/was always thus. But this is how it plays out in Brooklyn in the late 90s.
Jim McKay is the writer/director of this film project but he acknowledges all who have shouted suggestions at him. The opening title slide `A film by' seems to list everyone in the universe. It's a gesture but by the end of the film, we know it to be a genuine one. [The closing titles also have some of the most on-the-money and appreciative credits I've read.] The vivid sound recording by Jan McLaughlin deserves to be especially noted. McKay's a modest leader who knows who is telling this story - it's his three graces Lanisha, Maria and Joycelyn. They're the real thing, their interactions have the fire of real friendship and the focus of reality. This ain't no music video shorthand telling of teenage life. It has the seriousness of the long unblinking stare.
Hanging out with them, we don't quite feel included but we do feel privileged to be listening in. These are real voices speaking with plainness about the crises and dullness of daily life. We are witness to the modern math of teenage life - how its problems are interpreted, calculated and summed and solved. Small scenes illustrate large thoughts throughout. Lanisha hangs with her dad at his security job - it's the only way she gets to spend time with him. We see the love that exists between them but also the failures of family and fatherhood. In a connected scene, Lanisha defends her dad to her mom, and we see how desperately she needs to love them both and for them to love her in return. Later, the three friends lay in the dark sharing visions and dreams - and we remember how crazy/funny kids are and more tragically, how realism hammers idealism these days. And at the end, Maria simply walking down the street is a short story in itself. We see her gather up the courage to hold all her fears and doubts at bay. She demonstrates for us the strength one needs to have to be able to embrace the fragility that makes life livable.
`Our Song's greatest gift is that we really feel deeply the terribly ephemeral nature of friendship - how, one day, alive and enlivening, that intimacy can, in the next, just turn and drift away. It's awful, but that's just the way it is, isn't it?
Young Kerry Washington
view_and_review15 January 2021
These were the oldest fifteen-year-olds I've ever seen. No, I don't mean that the actors playing fifteen-year-olds were older than normal, Hollywood routinely has twenty-somethings play teenagers. I mean these kids were pretty much adults. They had jobs, came and went as they pleased, got pregnant, got abortions, and generally grew up too fast.
"Our Song" focused on three Crown Heights, Brooklyn high school girls: Joycelyn (Anna Simpson), Maria (Melissa Martinez), and Lanisha (Kerry Washington); with a greater focus on Maria and Lanisha. The movie was largely directionless. It played more like a series of disconnected scenes rather than a single cohesive story. Too often the dialog, while it resembled real life, was not suitable for a movie. It did nothing to advance the plot or develop the characters. It's clear that we were supposed to sympathize with the struggles of these girls, but the lack of compelling dialog, engaging characters, or even a moving soundtrack made the whole movie seem like a trip to the grocery store. Maybe that was the goal of the movie--to make things that would be dramatic for other families seem blahze in Crown Heights.
It's obvious the budget was small, but that's no excuse. This movie won some awards and was nominated for others, though I can't see why. I wanted to like the movie. I was expecting something powerful and moving. The most interesting part of this movie was seeing a younger slightly plumper Kerry Washington.
"Our Song" focused on three Crown Heights, Brooklyn high school girls: Joycelyn (Anna Simpson), Maria (Melissa Martinez), and Lanisha (Kerry Washington); with a greater focus on Maria and Lanisha. The movie was largely directionless. It played more like a series of disconnected scenes rather than a single cohesive story. Too often the dialog, while it resembled real life, was not suitable for a movie. It did nothing to advance the plot or develop the characters. It's clear that we were supposed to sympathize with the struggles of these girls, but the lack of compelling dialog, engaging characters, or even a moving soundtrack made the whole movie seem like a trip to the grocery store. Maybe that was the goal of the movie--to make things that would be dramatic for other families seem blahze in Crown Heights.
It's obvious the budget was small, but that's no excuse. This movie won some awards and was nominated for others, though I can't see why. I wanted to like the movie. I was expecting something powerful and moving. The most interesting part of this movie was seeing a younger slightly plumper Kerry Washington.
one of a kind, unique film about young women today
c.h.u.d.25 April 2000
After seeing this film at the SF Independent Film Festival, I couldn't wait to hear about how to get a copy. Jim McKay gave a talk (Q&A) about the film afterward which presented his ironic situation: how to get distribution for a film which portrays minorities (women, non-whites) working on resolving controversial issues (teen pregnancy, teen motherhood, racial identity, single-mother households), and how to write a faithful script on all of these topics being a mid-thirties white male. The multi-racial, multi-gendered audience of mostly-adults raved about the film's fantastic storyline, detailed characters, and fantastic portrayal of "real teen life." Most of the teens, however, had left the building--leading me to think this is a film best seen by adults with kids, as a starting point for discussion rather than, as many adults there felt, "a film teens should see because it's about them." Hence, distribution questions--how do we get our hands on it? The Internet (retail) would be a great path--this is a film that will be buried, like "Pups" or other radical modern teen films--and McKay seemed responsive. As for his credits as a writer/director, McKay was _extremeley_ sensitive and detailed in his work--allying himself to the Crown Heights neighborhood in which the film is set, working with actors to portray characters in their own vision of what they think should be--with the results being disarmingly realistic.
Astoundingly good
mail-155626 September 2005
I tuned into this by accident on the independent film channel and was riveted. I'm a professional actor and I was flabbergasted by the performances. They felt totally improvisatory, absolutely without affectation. I could not tell if it was scripted or how it was shot and waited until the very end to see credits and then spent a half an hour on the IMDb to find this film. Do not miss it. I see that the writer-director also did a very fine film called Everyday People which I enjoyed a lot. The shame of the film business is that projects this excellent do not get the distribution and advertising that they deserve and live under the radar. This film deserves to be flown high and proudly. I urge people to look it up and watch it.
I was once a teenage girl like this
MsLiz25 March 2003
Fifteen and wondering what will happen in the future. Trying to figure out what you can and cannot do with boys without getting into trouble. Trying to figure out how to be as cool as I wanted to be without losing who I was becoming. I found this film very true-to-life, it reminded me of my cousins, nieces, and friends in this stage of life (and of course, myself). I only hope many young people will see it on DVD and many adults will take to heart the tentative movements this film portrays and give the kids a break.
A genuine wonder of a movie.
djwild111 September 2006
Our Song is a marvelous example of passionate, movie making at its aesthetic best. It is, in fact, a genuine wonder of a movie; a penetrating and insightful work of art that chronicles the lives of three young inner city (Crown Heights, Brooklyn) girls during a particular summer in their lives when the perplexities of their approaching adulthood will compel each of them to make a number of difficult, life altering choices that will likely re-define who each of them is, as well as how they will continue to relate to one another in years to come.
Jim McKay's writing/direction is graceful and uncluttered. There is no sappy, gratuitous sentimentality nor are there cliché ridden solutions in this film. What we see here seems, at times, to be heart breakingly real. There is a naturalism - a credibility, if you will - in Our Song that surpasses that of other giants in this genre, including American Graffiti and Cooley High.
Much of the credit for the film's spirit goes to its principle actors. The combined presence of Melisa Martinez (Maria), Kerry Washington (Lanisha), and Anna Simpson (Joycelyn) is dazzlingly powerful. It would be easy - and, of course, blatantly obtuse - to dismiss, as some apparently have, the performances of these three as apathetic or unemotional. In fact, their quiet charm, their instinctive sense of dignity and their raw, sometimes unconventional intelligence, throughout the film, are absolutely riveting. One would have to be completely "out of touch" with, or completely indifferent to, the behavior of teenagers to miss the resounding authenticity in what these three young ladies bring to the screen. Likewise, the supporting cast, particularly Marlene Forte as Lanisha's mother, compliments the work of the three girls as well as the overall tone of the film.
Our Song is a film not to be missed - by anyone of any age.
Jim McKay's writing/direction is graceful and uncluttered. There is no sappy, gratuitous sentimentality nor are there cliché ridden solutions in this film. What we see here seems, at times, to be heart breakingly real. There is a naturalism - a credibility, if you will - in Our Song that surpasses that of other giants in this genre, including American Graffiti and Cooley High.
Much of the credit for the film's spirit goes to its principle actors. The combined presence of Melisa Martinez (Maria), Kerry Washington (Lanisha), and Anna Simpson (Joycelyn) is dazzlingly powerful. It would be easy - and, of course, blatantly obtuse - to dismiss, as some apparently have, the performances of these three as apathetic or unemotional. In fact, their quiet charm, their instinctive sense of dignity and their raw, sometimes unconventional intelligence, throughout the film, are absolutely riveting. One would have to be completely "out of touch" with, or completely indifferent to, the behavior of teenagers to miss the resounding authenticity in what these three young ladies bring to the screen. Likewise, the supporting cast, particularly Marlene Forte as Lanisha's mother, compliments the work of the three girls as well as the overall tone of the film.
Our Song is a film not to be missed - by anyone of any age.
Dated but Still Vital
bkrauser-81-31106415 August 2017
Our Song is by today's standards a precious little indie movie. It's clumsy, somewhat cheap-looking, strives for the cinema verite blend of social awareness but can't help but betray its own sense of realism with predictable Hollywood story-beats. Yet when Our Song came out in the year 2000, it must have been something of revelation. Lest we forget that when filmmakers dared to focus on the urban black experience in earnest, the films largely aimed the lens at masculine subject matter. Boyz 'N the Hood (1991), Menace II Society (1993), Gridlock'd (1997), by comparison the only thing young black women had to latch onto was A Different World (1987-1993).
Enter music video director Jim McKay, whose one-two punch of Girls Town (1996) and Our Song explored the complex and grounded worlds of young black women, as they formed friendships, experimented with boys, confronted forms of oppression and otherwise forged their own identities, under the backdrop of urban decay. At least those films did so as well as a white director could explore those themes without coming across as flaccid or worse paternalistic.
Our Song is the better of the two. In it, three Brooklyn teens, all members of the elite Jackie Robinson Steppers Marching Band, try to hang onto each other as pillars of support before their school closes for asbestos removal. Lanisha (Washington) the one with the most stable family life, i.e. divorced parents on relatively good terms, realizes early on that the other two are taking divergent paths. Joycelyn (Simpson), takes a job at a local boutique and befriends the older girls working there, while Maria (Martinez) battles with the complex emotions that come with an unexpected pregnancy.
It's easy to see how this kind of mix of after-school-special clichés could have gotten Novel by Sapphire (2009) real quick. Yet little in the film really transpires like you think it will. It's a true example of characters balancing their resolve and opportunities (or lack thereof), hiding their vulnerabilities, leaning on each other while realizing they all will just have to depend less and less on each other over time. It's just a part of growing up.
Our Song focuses almost exclusively on the aspect of growing pains and as a result the audience is compelled by the meta-narrative to think about times people in your life drifted away. I myself can recall several occasions over the course of my life when the one thing that formed close bonds suddenly ceased to be a la high school, soccer, a move to a different town.
Yet one can't help but wish the film didn't trim so much fat from the process. Many of the subplots build towards some kind of confrontation. Much ado is made about Maria's secrecy towards her mother (Lopez), a point that is juxtaposed by Lanisha's relationship with her own parents. Yet nothing ever really comes of this other than Maria shrugging off her mom's realization that the school is closing. Likewise Joycelyn's departure from the group is given the promise of a confrontation but it never arrives.
Of course these concerns are beside the point given that the film is about drifting apart, not clashing together. While it'd be nice to get a sense of closure from a movie that wouldn't be hurt by it, the truth of the matter is Our Song is true to form. Much like friendships formed in high school, the film ends and you're not exactly sure how or why but there's definitely a lump in your throat.
Our Song is maybe a little dated and may be a bit too concerned with its dressed-down style. Yet its message and its personality shine through. Its earnestness is almost certainly a virtue, especially considering it explores the foibles of a population that rarely gets attention in cinema. Our Song may not be my favorite coming-of-age film but it's certainly someone's.
Enter music video director Jim McKay, whose one-two punch of Girls Town (1996) and Our Song explored the complex and grounded worlds of young black women, as they formed friendships, experimented with boys, confronted forms of oppression and otherwise forged their own identities, under the backdrop of urban decay. At least those films did so as well as a white director could explore those themes without coming across as flaccid or worse paternalistic.
Our Song is the better of the two. In it, three Brooklyn teens, all members of the elite Jackie Robinson Steppers Marching Band, try to hang onto each other as pillars of support before their school closes for asbestos removal. Lanisha (Washington) the one with the most stable family life, i.e. divorced parents on relatively good terms, realizes early on that the other two are taking divergent paths. Joycelyn (Simpson), takes a job at a local boutique and befriends the older girls working there, while Maria (Martinez) battles with the complex emotions that come with an unexpected pregnancy.
It's easy to see how this kind of mix of after-school-special clichés could have gotten Novel by Sapphire (2009) real quick. Yet little in the film really transpires like you think it will. It's a true example of characters balancing their resolve and opportunities (or lack thereof), hiding their vulnerabilities, leaning on each other while realizing they all will just have to depend less and less on each other over time. It's just a part of growing up.
Our Song focuses almost exclusively on the aspect of growing pains and as a result the audience is compelled by the meta-narrative to think about times people in your life drifted away. I myself can recall several occasions over the course of my life when the one thing that formed close bonds suddenly ceased to be a la high school, soccer, a move to a different town.
Yet one can't help but wish the film didn't trim so much fat from the process. Many of the subplots build towards some kind of confrontation. Much ado is made about Maria's secrecy towards her mother (Lopez), a point that is juxtaposed by Lanisha's relationship with her own parents. Yet nothing ever really comes of this other than Maria shrugging off her mom's realization that the school is closing. Likewise Joycelyn's departure from the group is given the promise of a confrontation but it never arrives.
Of course these concerns are beside the point given that the film is about drifting apart, not clashing together. While it'd be nice to get a sense of closure from a movie that wouldn't be hurt by it, the truth of the matter is Our Song is true to form. Much like friendships formed in high school, the film ends and you're not exactly sure how or why but there's definitely a lump in your throat.
Our Song is maybe a little dated and may be a bit too concerned with its dressed-down style. Yet its message and its personality shine through. Its earnestness is almost certainly a virtue, especially considering it explores the foibles of a population that rarely gets attention in cinema. Our Song may not be my favorite coming-of-age film but it's certainly someone's.
A wonderful film
smyrna-31 March 2004
What a special little film following the summer of three young 15 year-old girls and the transition they are beginning to make into adulthood! I couldn't believe these girls weren't for real and that they were actresses. There was a wealth of subject matter going on and I couldn't do it justice by commenting much on it here. I can only encourage others to watch it. This movie was non traditional movie making and acting in every way. Everyone in Hollywood should sit down and watch this movie and learn. I've book marked everyone in this movie and will be watching out for them in the future. I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for more works coming from the producer and director. I highly recommend this movie. Bravo!
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