AMERICAN VIOLET EXPOSES INSTITUTIONAL RACISM IN TEXAS’ CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
Based on a true story, American Violet first establishes the reputation of Dee Roberts (played by Nicole Biharie) as a well-qualified waitress in Melody, Texas, who is a fine mother of four. One day one of her daughters is in the parking lot of a low-income housing project when police engage in mass arrests of supposed drug dealers. The following day, Dee is arrested at work, jailed with four other women, and threatened that she could walk free if she would admit her guilt in exchange for a suspended sentence. She fights courageously, backed by ACLU attorney David Cohen (played by Tim Blake Nelson) and local lawyer Sam Conroy (played by Will Patton), and is vindicated. The most important part of the story is not the ending but the revelations about how political power works in a small town as well as titles at the end reporting that 2.3 million persons are incarcerated in the United States and that more than 90 percent of all criminal cases are settled by plea bargains. The film reveals that the white power structure picks on blacks because they rarely have legal resources, although one title reveals that Conroy took on black clients after the case. Dee was arrested on the basis of a single informant, Byron White (played by Malcolm Barrett), who was pressured to give five names of drug dealers to lighten his sentence. Dee is one of the names because she was the rival of his sister, who lived with her former husband, both of whom wanted custody of two of Dee’s children. One of the five cops a plea to get out of jail, but when Dee wins her case, the convictions of those who pled guilty remain. At the center of political power is the county district attorney, Calvin Beckett (played by Michael O’Keefe), whose racism is provoked during a deposition after his daughter and former wife confirm that he frequently used the word “nigger” at home. The biggest bombshell of the film is that funding to the DA’s office is allocated by the state on the basis of the number of convictions, something only bolstered by raids and mass arrests. Directed by Tim Disney, American Violet has been nominated for awards as best film exposé and best film on human rights of 2009. MH
STATE OF PLAY CELEBRATES INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
Released on the weekend before Pulitzer Prizes were announced, State of Play tracks the efforts of investigative reporter Cal McAffrey (played by Russell Crowe) to find corruption in Washington. Shrunk from a six-hour TV miniseries focused on British politics to two hours about American politics, the film ties together unexplained murders, Congressional factfinding and backbiting, extracurricular sex, unscrupulous lobbyists, and a greedy corporation making billions from the federal budget. Although fictional, the story exposes why investigative journalism is declining, namely, that newspaper editors are pressured by nonjournalistic corporate owners to produce profits, since investigative journalists cost more than quotidian reporters. The journalism in All the President’s Men (1976), in short, is held up as a standard that is under threat of extinction. A second theme is to expose the lengths to which corporations with billions in government contracts might go to protect their income—including bribery, espionage, and murder. State of Play clearly has Blackwater in mind. The most explosive revelation is that Blackwater was sent to New Orleans to keep order after Katrina, and the film in effect accuses Blackwater of having the goal of replacing public sector law enforcement in the United States. Accordingly, the Political Film Society has nominated State of Play for an award as best film exposé of 2009. The engaging plot itself has twists and turns, leaving filmviewers puzzled about who was responsible for what even at the end, but that is the price paid by director Kevin Macdonald (winner of best film on human rights of 2006 for The Last King of Scotland) in fitting a complex story into 127 fast-paced minutes of film footage. MH