Passing

I mentioned it last week on the pod and I'm really so happy that you watched it and your parents enjoyed it so much, which was "Passing" by Rebecca Hall. By Rebecca, by Rebecca Hall. Loved it so much and we watched it. I watched it with my parents because I'm now I'm having to pick up movies where there are Chinese subtitles. Netflix with at least their original stuff will have Chinese subtitles on.

I mean I thought that Tessa Thompson was exquisite and I think that she she is not getting talked about enough at this. Yeah of year because I think there's a lot of bigger louder performances but she so what if people don't know the story is about Tessa Thompson is a woman who lives in Harlem and this is 1920s in New York and she one day is passing in a white part of the city so that she can run errands and What that means for people that don't know is that she is basically light-skinned enough where she can Sort of disguise herself as a white woman so that she is not attacked Ridiculed harassed or worse in this white part of town where she needs to run errands for the day and it's a very hot day so she stops in a hotel and runs into a childhood friends of hers played by immaculate who is fully passing as a white woman with blonde hair married to Alexander Skarsgard who continues to Push himself like and he does there's no monster. He won't play and there is something brave about it. It's very brave I am part of me is maybe worried that this is all he's getting offered. It's a little typecast Threatening. He's obviously someone who we know I mean he's Eric Northman like I think I think that he's one of the best actors as well. He's but yeah, he plays her husband and Basically like they have a conversation that leaves both of them wanting to reconnect yes and it's dangerous because Alexander Skarsgard is a major racist and So they start a friendship again and the movie takes off from there and it's just it's just fabulous. I mean she Rebecca Hall wrote this right and wrote and directed it based on her own Experience of finding out that her grandfather passed

Mm-hmm. I mean there was such like I told you this right and I think I really think I don't think I'm off here It was a Tennessee Williams quality about this It's a very streetcar like I'm surely coming into the home of this marriage like it just and she was playing like Southern Belle like Blanche Dubois like Ruth Ruth and it was just so so like Wonderfully done yet shot in black and white as a shadow choice

Yeah, I mean oh I loved it I loved it so much. I mean we're just saying how much we love it right? We were just gushing. I don't I mean I know I obviously don't want to give much of the plot away but it is really actually it's very interesting as a as a Movie to look at right now I think particularly in our times because one of these subplots which I thought was really interesting is is Tessa Thompson and her husband have a disagreement about how much to tell their children about violence towards black people and I thought that it was a really really fascinating conversation an argument that they have because Tessa Thompson is the more light-skinned in the couple and she thinks our kids don't need to know about it and her husband who's more dark-skinned And cannot pass her husband cannot pass doesn't have that privilege He is like no they do need to know about it and you know you see the way that Ruth Nega who is You know extremely charismatic and does pass is able to step back into black society and really becomes the bell of the ball So it's so much internally going on in Tessa Thompson's character Yeah to the point where it all ends up to this climax which is you know really really really Impactful and I just think that everyone should watch it because it's so beautifully done and Tessa Thompson I think this put her in a different league for me Absolutely and I was telling you that like she had a very difficult thing to accomplish in this role where between Stella and Blanche Like Blanche is the more interesting one like it's the same thing here It's like or it's like so I really it's like similar to Zola in a way where it's like the looser I mean not the looser cannon like the more mysterious Person the actor like that role is just a little bit shinier and more fun Yes to an audience and for her to sort of have to be this like grounding Thing yeah person I'm sorry I'm so stoned but does this make sense? Like she like it makes a hundred percent sense She really had to like hold that Groundedness I just think we don't respect nuance enough I just think especially you know It's just so hard to do and I think that even in Gaga's performance at House of Gucci Like people are gonna think oh this is like you know and over-the-top like wildly emotional performance but there is nuance in it and I think that That's really what I look for as I look for those little things under the surface that that tell you all you need to know and Passing has so much of that and I think it's also credit to the script and Rebecca Hall You know I've always been like interested in her as an actress like I've always been you know aware of her I like her and Vicky Christina. I like her and you know she was in Frost Nixon I think is the first thing I saw her and she was in the town. She's in lots of good stuff She has a real talent as a writer Yeah oh my god So tight that script like for yeah I mean that triangle of Tessa's character the husband and Ruth's is Such a perfect like yeah triangulation Sorry to say that again but like for Tessa's character where she's like caught between these two poles Yes it's so great Yeah I feel like you know The testament to great writing and also great direction and acting obviously is how much is articulated in what is not said? And so on the page you know What I love is there's a very long scenes between the actors like I really love I miss that I miss I miss like you know cuz it very easily could be a Play a scene on stage Yeah And it was a novella so it's a it's an adapted work But this is a really it's like there's scene study you can do it Because there's subtext and there's really rich things for the actress to play and they're just so good I just can't recommend it enough and I was really happy that you watched it and and liked it so much girl I loved it