The Planet of Junior Brown is an overlooked gem of a film. I've seen it three times now, and each time it gets better, the sign of a rich cinematic experience.
The first time I saw the film, I was jarred a little by its tone; the meshing of realism and an alternative "reality" of dreams threw me off. On my second viewing of the film, I recognized this "reality" as mytho-poetic, and also recognized myself in the relationship of Junior and his mother, though we are from different cultures, countries, "races" and backgrounds. There is a universality in this movie that comes across nicely due to the mytho-poetic quality of director Clement Virgo's art. It's a quite beautiful and moving little gem of a film, though it is suffused with melancholy due to a certain ambiguity in the ending. (Is Junior imagining what transpires in the final scene; is it a dream? Is Junior delusional? Has he slipped the bonds of his harsh reality and retreated into some secret place inside his head?)
Films are all about dreams, and I didn't really understand or love THE PLANET OF JUNIOR BROWN until I realized that it was created from the stuff of dreams, putting it firmly in the realm of the mytho-poetic.
Watch this film, not once, but twice or more. You will be rewarded.
The first time I saw the film, I was jarred a little by its tone; the meshing of realism and an alternative "reality" of dreams threw me off. On my second viewing of the film, I recognized this "reality" as mytho-poetic, and also recognized myself in the relationship of Junior and his mother, though we are from different cultures, countries, "races" and backgrounds. There is a universality in this movie that comes across nicely due to the mytho-poetic quality of director Clement Virgo's art. It's a quite beautiful and moving little gem of a film, though it is suffused with melancholy due to a certain ambiguity in the ending. (Is Junior imagining what transpires in the final scene; is it a dream? Is Junior delusional? Has he slipped the bonds of his harsh reality and retreated into some secret place inside his head?)
Films are all about dreams, and I didn't really understand or love THE PLANET OF JUNIOR BROWN until I realized that it was created from the stuff of dreams, putting it firmly in the realm of the mytho-poetic.
Watch this film, not once, but twice or more. You will be rewarded.