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Dose of Arts and Culture
Weekend Edition
October 25-26, 2008
The deeply depressing film Rachel Getting Married, by Jenny Lumet, Lena Horne's granddaughter and esteemed director Sydney Lumet's daughter, is a masterpiece of nuanced, cross-racial joy and familial embrace.
While in no way at the forefront of this dark psychological drama about a young woman's battle with addiction and narcissism, the film's casting is a Hollywood first. Rachel, played by an entrancing, anti-starlet, Rosemarie Dewitt, is the older, more "stable" sister of Kym, played by the new hot, Hollywood fresh face, Anne Hathaway. I would say the casting is solid this far.
But then, Tiffany Canfield,
head of casting, Jonathan Demme, the film's director, and writer Jenny
Lumet get interesting (and smart) and cast Rachel's fiance, Sidney, with
the African-born, NYU-trained film actor, Tunde Adebimpe. Never
given the option to play a leading man, Adebimpe conquers the role with
ease. He portrays Sidney with an unassuming naturalness that is
nothing short of charming. The neat part here, of course, is that
no real reference is made to his race in light of Rachel's, and the
couple supersedes the usual, cheesy, Hollywood realm of inter-racial
relationship goo. The two of them are just well-suited and in
love. The two families happily mesh as these two troubled, intense,
complex and joyful human beings decide to tie the knot. Hooray for
Hollywood.
Further, the casting of the guests and friend circles at Rachel's wedding, coupled with the vast selection of excellent live music, is an astonishing tribute to the level of thought and sophistication that went into casting and crafting this film. Unlike any other Hollywood film I have seen, and believe me, I think I have seen them all (or at least most), a new age of Americanism seems to be ushered in.
The film is bubbling over with cast members like Fab Five Freddy as a friend of the groom, Robyn Hitchcock as a wedding singer, African-American Broadway actress Anna Deveare Smith as Rachel's step mom, the gorgeously hip, Asian-American poet, Beau Sia as a friend of the family and the unstoppable Debra Winger (heaven forbid a beautiful "mature' actress gets a role) as Rachel and Kym's emotionally distant mother.
I hope that this film marks the beginning of a new genre of independent film, where the film maker gives the variety and sophistication of the audience a chance to see themselves, as they truly are, up on screen.
