"Till" -- Movie Review

 

On the opening weekend of The 60^th New York Film Festival, I attended the World Premiere of the new biographical drama, “Till”, directed  by Chinonye Chukwu. 

Synopsis

When a teenage boy is lynched in Mississippi, can his mother find justice?

Story

In 1955, the northern city of Chicago was just as bigoted and racist as the southern state of Mississippi – the only difference was the racism in Chicago took on a more subtle approach whereas the racism in Mississippi was more overt.  That summer, a 14 year old teenager named Emmett Till would learn that lesson the hard way.  Emmett grew up in Chicago and was naïve when it came to the ways of the south and his mother Mamie tried hard to shield him from it – she had known it first hand because that’s where she lived before moving to Chicago with the rest of her family. 

Young Emmett’s extended family invited him to visit them in Mississippi so he could become acquainted with cousins he had never met up to that point.  The thought of a trip to the deep south excited Emmett and despite Mamie’s concerns, she consented.  Once there, Emmett soon learned just how different Mississippi was from Chicago.  Encountering a shopkeeper while buying some candy, he remarked that she was quite attractive, even whistling at her.  Little did Emmett know it at the time, but that one act pretty much sealed his fate.  A gang of local white men took him from his relative’s house, then lynched him. 

When the boy’s body was sent back to Chicago for burial, Mamie insisted not only that the casket remained open, but also that the media see what was done to her only son.  Once pictures of the disfigured, bloated and badly beaten Emmett were published nationally, outrage quickly grew throughout the country.  The NAACP became aware of it and joined forces with Mamie to bring charges against the people responsible.  From the outset of the court case, it became apparent that the whole thing was rigged against the Till family;  every single witness for the defense outright lied on the witness stand.  With all odds against her, would Mamie Till ever expose the fraud?

Review

The advance word about “Till” is that its star, Danielle Deadwyler in the role of Mamie, Till’s mother, is expected to get nominated for multiple awards – and may very well win at least one of them.  Based on her performance, there is no doubt this will occur.  As for the film itself, “Till” feels like it plods along and at over two hours, probably could have been trimmed by a good 15-20 minutes.   At a length of two hours and ten minutes, it seems considerably longer than that.  In retrospect, perhaps too much time was spent on ancillary events and activities that could have been either condensed or cut altogether. 

Despite flaws in “Till”, it is useful as an instructional tool and should be shown to students in order to familiarize themselves with the story.  For some, this may cross the line of teaching Critical Race Theory (CRT).  However, the argument should be made that in order to accurately tell the history of the United States, the ugly side must be included with the heroic side.  A similar argument could be made for a classic like “The Godfather”; the history of this country includes organized crime.  In the Coppola movie, it happens to be people of Italian descent; many Italian-Americans objected to this depiction, despite the fact that Coppola and Puzo (the author of the book on which the film was based) are both Italian-Americans themselves.

A post-screening discussion took place with Director Chinonye Chukwu, star Danielle Deadwyler and Executive Producer/cast member Whoopi Goldberg.  Chukwu said that when she was approached by the producers to direct this project, she had several conditions that had to be met.  First was that the film had to be told from the perspective of Emmett’s mother Mamie because without her advocacy, the nation would never know her son’s story.  Another was that she didn’t want to portray violence on any Black bodies – she wanted to make this for a Black audience.  Lastly, was that she insisted the movie end with joy – it is ultimately a love story of Mamie and her child.  She was careful about what was contained in each frame, stating, “Where the camera focuses is its own act of resistance”.