We are all responsible for everyone else--but I am more responsible than all the others.
--The Brothers Karamazov
Stevie (2002) <---- watch this
It's hard to take a lighthearted view of Stevie despite the mixed sentiment in the trailer that, upon watching after seeing the film, reminds me that the entire movie wasn't as disheartening as I'd thought it was when it ended. What starts as a Big Brother trying to reconnect with his former Little Brother turns into a discourse on the consequences of letting a person slip through the cracks and become a victim of their environment and society. Stevie's story is a complex one, beginning from the moment we see his pudgy, smiling 11 year old face in old photographs with a twenty-something Steve James (former Big Brother mentor/ director) to a final scene of his girlfriend cleaning out his trailer after being sentenced to 10 years in prison for molesting his 8 year old niece.
The film chronicles and implies explanation of how Stevie's psychological development was impaired by his abusive mother and volatile family situations, being handled poorly by the state in terms of education and foster housing, and insufficient positive personal relationships and guidance, of which Steve James had sought to give. We get the sense that Steve believes he's failed in some way or that he owes something to Stevie, some type of retribution for leaving his life.
Steve James began filming in 1995, 10years after his Big Brother stint had ended. The beginning shot is a pastoral scene of hills and open country slowly being traversed by Steve's minivan--the epitome of the white middle class American of the mid-90s. The initial visit to Stevie's home is somewhat startling, in the way that happening upon an old classmate you haven't seen in 10 years is startling. The ghosts of smaller facial features and baby teeth are overshadowed by harsher adult skin and hair. Meeting Stevie had a similar effect, but gradually, you begin to grow comfortable with this person you've just met. As we (the viewers) expect the story to go on after we see the same minivan shuttle toward whence it came, the director informs us that another 2 years has passed before he returns to Stevie's story. In the time of James' absence Stevie had been arrested several times as we're shown the time-lapse mug shots chronicling variable mullets and chops, but always with his signature Dahmer eye wear. James picks up nearly where he left off, this time spreading the focus to Stevie's sister, mother, aunt, and fiance.
His family life has been difficult since he was born, with contradictory stories from his mother and grandmother about how he was treated as a child. Both sides recount beatings of varying degrees depending on who you ask. Stevie and his mother have a bizarre loving hatred for one another that neither can explain. She would visit him every day after Stevie was imprisoned on an allegation his mother helped put forth. The familial bonds are complicated, but they are still a family that tolerates one another enough for each to live within a 500 ft. radius.
The difference between this film and most other personal portrait films that makes the story more engaging is the active role Steve James plays in the story. He doesn't simply record video, but participates in the action and has real relationships with the people he's interviewing and conversing with. He doesn't seem obligated to become engaged, but does so out of curiosity and concern. In this way James is very self-conscious about how he represents his actions, others' words, and meaning. The film is carefully articulated to combine a spectrum of emotions, but does so at a distance as to not seem sentimental. Stevie is a portrait of the network of relationships that help shape and mold a person's life, for better or worse; in Stevie's case, the latter.
When filming ended in 1999 Stevie had begun his 10 year sentence in prison. Being 2010, I was curious to know if Steve James had made a follow up after Stevie's release which was scheduled for Feb. 15 2010. The search was fruitless.
3 out of 5 PBRs
--The Brothers Karamazov
Stevie (2002) <---- watch this
It's hard to take a lighthearted view of Stevie despite the mixed sentiment in the trailer that, upon watching after seeing the film, reminds me that the entire movie wasn't as disheartening as I'd thought it was when it ended. What starts as a Big Brother trying to reconnect with his former Little Brother turns into a discourse on the consequences of letting a person slip through the cracks and become a victim of their environment and society. Stevie's story is a complex one, beginning from the moment we see his pudgy, smiling 11 year old face in old photographs with a twenty-something Steve James (former Big Brother mentor/ director) to a final scene of his girlfriend cleaning out his trailer after being sentenced to 10 years in prison for molesting his 8 year old niece.
The film chronicles and implies explanation of how Stevie's psychological development was impaired by his abusive mother and volatile family situations, being handled poorly by the state in terms of education and foster housing, and insufficient positive personal relationships and guidance, of which Steve James had sought to give. We get the sense that Steve believes he's failed in some way or that he owes something to Stevie, some type of retribution for leaving his life.
Steve James began filming in 1995, 10years after his Big Brother stint had ended. The beginning shot is a pastoral scene of hills and open country slowly being traversed by Steve's minivan--the epitome of the white middle class American of the mid-90s. The initial visit to Stevie's home is somewhat startling, in the way that happening upon an old classmate you haven't seen in 10 years is startling. The ghosts of smaller facial features and baby teeth are overshadowed by harsher adult skin and hair. Meeting Stevie had a similar effect, but gradually, you begin to grow comfortable with this person you've just met. As we (the viewers) expect the story to go on after we see the same minivan shuttle toward whence it came, the director informs us that another 2 years has passed before he returns to Stevie's story. In the time of James' absence Stevie had been arrested several times as we're shown the time-lapse mug shots chronicling variable mullets and chops, but always with his signature Dahmer eye wear. James picks up nearly where he left off, this time spreading the focus to Stevie's sister, mother, aunt, and fiance.
His family life has been difficult since he was born, with contradictory stories from his mother and grandmother about how he was treated as a child. Both sides recount beatings of varying degrees depending on who you ask. Stevie and his mother have a bizarre loving hatred for one another that neither can explain. She would visit him every day after Stevie was imprisoned on an allegation his mother helped put forth. The familial bonds are complicated, but they are still a family that tolerates one another enough for each to live within a 500 ft. radius.
The difference between this film and most other personal portrait films that makes the story more engaging is the active role Steve James plays in the story. He doesn't simply record video, but participates in the action and has real relationships with the people he's interviewing and conversing with. He doesn't seem obligated to become engaged, but does so out of curiosity and concern. In this way James is very self-conscious about how he represents his actions, others' words, and meaning. The film is carefully articulated to combine a spectrum of emotions, but does so at a distance as to not seem sentimental. Stevie is a portrait of the network of relationships that help shape and mold a person's life, for better or worse; in Stevie's case, the latter.
When filming ended in 1999 Stevie had begun his 10 year sentence in prison. Being 2010, I was curious to know if Steve James had made a follow up after Stevie's release which was scheduled for Feb. 15 2010. The search was fruitless.
3 out of 5 PBRs
No comments:
Post a Comment