The end of Cold War meant not only the ultimate triumph for the United States but also for the brand of wild, unrestrained, unregulated capitalism in that country that was successfully promoted as the only proper and possible alternative for the rest of the world. However, there were some American film makers unwilling to accept that historical verdict, seeing that how that system worked quite differently in real life than in fairytale world of mainstream Hollywood films. One of the most impressive criticisms of the general state of affairs in early post-Cold War America was City of Hope, 1991 drama written and directed by John Sayles.
The plot is set in unnamed American city. Film doesn’t have major protagonists and instead follows the lives of no less than thirty characters from different class, racial and ethnic backgrounds whose lives clash over the course of couple of days. The first major plot strand concerns Joe Rinaldi (played by Tony Lo Bianco), real estate entrepreneur who is getting pressured by corrupt mayor Baci (played by Tony Zorich) to get rid of low-rent tenement building he owns in order to allow lucrative Japanese-backed construction of shopping complex. His rebellious son Nick (played by Vincent Spano), despite having nice no-show job in father’s company, prefers to spend time on drugs, gambling and hanging out with petty criminal friends who would, at the behest of small-time crime lord Carl (played by John Sayles) involve him in seemingly simple store robbery that goes wrong. Nick manages to evade its consequences for a while, but complicates thing by starting romantic relationship with waitress Angela (played by Barbara Williams) whose jealous ex-husband Rizzo (played by Anthony Denison) is a trigger-happy policeman. Zimmer (played by Michael Mantell) is college professor whose love of late night jogging results in violent incident that would lead to accusations of racism and homophobia. One of the people involved in the controversy is Wynn (played by Joe Morton), city alderman who is torn between idealistic desire to seek truth and pandering to the biases of his black constituency.
John Sayles is known for his left-wing views and those views found expression in his 1980s films, many of which could be described as socialist as it was possible in Reagan’s America. Sayles socialism can be found not only in content which uncompromisingly points finger at capitalist greed as the ultimate cause of misery and violence that plagues both communities and individuals, but also in its form. Sayles, just like in his previous films Matewan and Eight Men Out rejects the Hollywood norm of single individual protagonist and instead embraces collective in form of plenty of different characters that enjoy equal attention of its director. This not only allows for formidable cast that includes many notable and talented names in small but memorable roles, but also leads Sayles to employ a clever direction which serves unusual narrative technique. For most of its running time, City of Hope employs long tracking shots that follow one of few characters only to have another character enter into it and seamlessly become subject of film maker’s attention. This is done in natural way that doesn’t seem “artsy” or flamboyant like with similar tracking shots in the works of Scorsese or Paul Thomas Anderson. Technical artistry is well matched by good script that connects many plots and characters in a way to explore many burning issues of 1990s urban America, like gentrification, corruption, organised crime and racial tensions. Those issues are, despite collectivist format, presented as individual – each character is forced to deal with them through some often unpleasant moral dilemmas and each of them answers to those challenges in different way.
Despite great technical skill, both in terms of direction and scriptwriting, City of Hope is far from perfect. Sayles wasn’t thorough in working out some details. One example is in reference to Nick’s brother who has died in a war, which would have presumably been Vietnam War. This would, consequently, set the plot in early 1980s, but Sayles refuses to anchor the plot through recognisable period details or pop culture references. Another issue might be in romance between Nick and Angela which looks a little bit too sugary in otherwise bleak film. Sayles’ other departure from general bleakness is in the scene when two characters from different worlds find some common ground and simple way to bridge their differences and offer some hope for better future. This works in the film, although the actual ending, which features Sayles’ old associate David Strathairn in the over-the-top role of street madman, looks little bit melodramatic. However, all those who appreciate quality film making and serious exploration of important economic and political issue would probably like City of Hope.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/ Leofinance blog https://leofinance.io/@drax.leo Cent profile https://beta.cent.co/@drax Minds profile https://www.minds.com/drax_rp_nc Uptrennd profile https://www.uptrennd.com/user/MTYzNA
Unstoppable Domains: https://unstoppabledomains.com/?ref=3fc23fc42c1b417 Hiveonboard: https://hiveonboard.com?ref=drax Bitcoin Lightning HIVE donations: https://v4v.app/v1/lnurlp/qrcode/drax Rising Star game: https://www.risingstargame.com?referrer=drax 1Inch: https://1inch.exchange/#/r/0x83823d8CCB74F828148258BB4457642124b1328e
BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7
