Green Book

Great Movie

A perspective on Racism in the 30s and two people, of different ethnicities building Mutual Respect in that potpourri of experience. The money to purchase was well spent, the actors played their parts well. It is a sensitive topic @2023 and probably wont get any oscars but it was well scripted and played.

The storyline is about 2 individuals with different backgrounds find unexpected commonalities when cultural & society views differ. The story was based on true events. Great to watch over and over.

Unless you have been turned away from entering a business you cannot know how it feels to be degraded. Unless you were only offered the table by the kitchen door when the room was almost empty you will never know how it feels. But this movie takes a naive man that is not well educated and puts him in situations that he has never had to deal with before. The other brilliant men have all his life dealt with the ignorance of people, the hate, the stupidity. The Green Book is a must-see movie to remind us that we are no better than the men crossing the same street we are crossing. I will never play a piano like Don Shirley, but I can enjoy the mans works of art. What are you waiting for? Watch this movie!

The general story line is based on a true story of Dr Don Shirley, a prodigious pianist who hires an Italian bouncer to drive him into the “deep south” on a musical tour in the early ‘60s, in an age of segregation. Coming from an Italian heritage, I can confess that my culture is guilty of having had a history of exclusivity that still lingers to this present day. It’s nothing personal, it’s an Italian thing. Didn’t matter if you’re Black or White, it was if you were or were not a ‘Goomba’. Some of the terms used in the ‘60s are pejoratives today, particularly the n-word, which I’m relieved was refrained from use. The now derogatory term is derived from a reference to folks who hail from Niger. Instead, the script substitutes ‘Black’, a term yet unused in that generational time period, but is the English equivalent for the Latin word negro — which, incidentally, is still used as a nickname by some Latino families (pronounced: nay’-gro) Spoiler alert, there is an interesting scene where Tony drives into Kentucky for the first time and discovers a Kentucky Fried Chicken fast food restaurant and he gets a bucket, to the dismay of the proper Don Shirley. I can personally vouch that I myself remember the first time eating fried chicken and being schooled by my family that it is fully appropriate, and not considered bad manners, to eat chicken without utensils. It’s the one main course that we are permitted to eat using our fingers themselves. Even so, the bigger story here is that as they toured further into the south, there were interesting lessons in the distinctions of venues. For example, Don Shirley was perfectly welcomed at the culturally blended dinner table where the host served up what was thought to be something Don Shirley must like. Even so, Shirley might have been offended of their stereotypical presumptions for this menu selection without having the earlier exposure to the Kentucky Fried Chicken incident prior in the storyline. Later in the film, this becomes more poignant as they learn that in the deeper south, the Virtuoso pianist wasn’t welcomed to sit and to simply eat in the same dining room with everyone. It’s unconscionable and bewildering that identity politics still haunt us today. We shy to speak of varying strengths or weaknesses that tend to accompany different people groups. Personally, I don’t like the term ‘race’ which is misleading since we are all a part of the only one human race on the planet. There are different nationalities, cultures, creeds, and complexions, but there is not a second race existent on God’s green earth, to borrow a phrase used in the film. A good film uses the feature time to build the background story of the characters. It makes sense to me to begin in this worldview of the driver’s background, Tony the Italian, as he is a prototype of the ethnocentric world that they lived in of various migrants in America. That world gets enchantingly swept into the world of the story’s main subject, Don Shirley, an accomplished Black pianist who is the benefactor and employer of a recent layed-off bouncer, Tony, to drive him on a musical tour into the southern countryland of the U.S... which leads to my favorite scene. The movie poster shows our two stars sitting in the Cadillac, almost as if posing for a promotional billboard advertisement. In fact, we find that it’s actually a scene from the film, and maybe the most phenomenal moment, without a word of dialogue. After Tony refills water into an overheated engine and then opens the door for his impeccable employer, both their gazes fall onto the eyes of Black harvesters looking back from the fields. It’s as if time stops! Maybe this explains why the piano maestro, it is reported, actually did not want the biography shared while he was still living. When we as individuals begin to open up and expose our vulnerabilities, we find that we are really more alike deep down than we are different. We are all trying to ease our sufferings, only to find that there are others in the community who are facing even greater inequities. Tony isn’t particularly skilled in any trade, so he’s reduced to being a bouncer without much of a retirement program. Don Shirley is a financially independent and one-of-a-kind, successful pianist, but faces reprehensible discrimination. Then there’s the ethnic workers tilling the land: men and women, young and old. Looking into those eyes, the two main characters in this biographical movie ultimately realize their own multitude of ethical deviations, like Tony’s temper and total disregard to steal or toss waste out into the streets; and for Don Shirley those ethical challenges include finding solace in a bottle of scotch and not reaching out toward his estranged brother, the only surviving family member of his family.

Wonderful heartwarming account of friendship between 2 unlikely men of vastly different backgrounds.

I absolutely loved this movie and i rarely ever watch movies, i sat down and took the time after seeing some reviews on it and Im absolutely astonished at how wonderful this movie is, its full of all sorts of exciting scenes and everytime they moved on to a different show I expected something different in each one, it showcased how each of them had bad habits and opposite lifestyles and they both changed each other for the better, this is a great movie!

Heart wrenching and a perfect movie to watch with a friend.

I didnt know much about this movie. Was pleasantly surprised but felt it was a little lighter than it needed to be. Of course, wonderful performances by Ali and Vigo!

I love this movie, strong message, back in the day story with great performances.