'Gun Hill Road' is a Spirit Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actress. It's writer/director Rashaad Ernesto Green's first effort at a feature film and one comes away very impressed by the overall professional package he has created here. The film is about a macho parolee, Enrique (winningly played by Esai Morales) who has just come home from state prison and can't accept the fact that his son Michael is now trans-gender.
Michael (who also calls herself Vanessa) is played by Harmony Santana, who had no prior acting experience before making this film. The central conflict revolves around Enrique and Michael's relationship. In a Q&A I attended, Director Green indicated that in part, he wrote the film to perhaps make an impression on those who have no tolerance for those who embrace alternative lifestyles. Enrique is depicted as a hardened soul, who had to fend off sexual advances while in prison from other inmates and now is ashamed that his son so easily rejects his own heterosexuality. Green wisely depicts Enrique's rejection of Michael's lifestyle as more psychological than physical. In a powerful scene, Enrique cuts off long locks of Michael's hair after finding sexually suggestive photos of him inside the home.
Another excellent scene which depicts the psychological harm Enrique inflicts on Michael is when he takes him to see a prostitute. The experience leaves Michael deeply wounded, as he ends up in the shower sobbing, while simultaneously cleaning himself off from his contact with the prostitute (contact which repulses him). Michael's only real support is from his mother, Angela, played by Judy Reyes, who does an excellent job as a woman torn between her love for tough guy husband Enrique and an auto mechanic boyfriend she was seeing while Enrique was in prison. In fact, it's the boyfriend's apartment that Michael runs off to for a brief time, after he can no longer tolerate his father's abuse.
Green doesn't sugar coat Michael's character either. Not only does Michael have to contend with his father's lack of acceptance, but finds that a new 'boyfriend' is only using her for sex. After sharing intimate moments (which includes an anal sex scene which Michael does not enjoy), she finally convinces the boyfriend to take her out to dinner (so that the two can now enjoy a more normal relationship). The boyfriend acts completely uncomfortable at dinner with Michael and doesn't stick up for her when she's taunted by neighborhood thugs on the street. Michael also resorts to self-defeating behavior by undergoing dangerous silicon injections at the hands of an underground, unlicensed practitioner.
In addition to the escalating tension as Enrique becomes more enraged over his son's sexuality, there are a number of subplots that add to the texture of the overall narrative. These subplots mainly involve Enrique's descent back into criminality: his loss of a job, participation in a robbery, failure to meet with his parole officer and a violent assault on the inmate who he had a confrontation with, back when he was incarcerated.
'Gun Hill Road' suffers only from a plot that primarily focuses on a father's one-note obsession. With other directors, this might have become an unwelcome, drawn out affair. But Director Green does an excellent job of bringing out all the nuances of his tragic, misguided protagonist with the help of the veteran, seasoned actor, Esai Morales.
'Gun Hill Road' feels like it was directed by someone with quite a good deal of experience in the film world. But the reality is, this is Director Rashaad Ernesto Green's first feature. Not only is he adept with the technical aspects of film making, but also knows how to work with his actors. I am convinced that Mr. Green will eventually become a top notch director in the American film industry.
Michael (who also calls herself Vanessa) is played by Harmony Santana, who had no prior acting experience before making this film. The central conflict revolves around Enrique and Michael's relationship. In a Q&A I attended, Director Green indicated that in part, he wrote the film to perhaps make an impression on those who have no tolerance for those who embrace alternative lifestyles. Enrique is depicted as a hardened soul, who had to fend off sexual advances while in prison from other inmates and now is ashamed that his son so easily rejects his own heterosexuality. Green wisely depicts Enrique's rejection of Michael's lifestyle as more psychological than physical. In a powerful scene, Enrique cuts off long locks of Michael's hair after finding sexually suggestive photos of him inside the home.
Another excellent scene which depicts the psychological harm Enrique inflicts on Michael is when he takes him to see a prostitute. The experience leaves Michael deeply wounded, as he ends up in the shower sobbing, while simultaneously cleaning himself off from his contact with the prostitute (contact which repulses him). Michael's only real support is from his mother, Angela, played by Judy Reyes, who does an excellent job as a woman torn between her love for tough guy husband Enrique and an auto mechanic boyfriend she was seeing while Enrique was in prison. In fact, it's the boyfriend's apartment that Michael runs off to for a brief time, after he can no longer tolerate his father's abuse.
Green doesn't sugar coat Michael's character either. Not only does Michael have to contend with his father's lack of acceptance, but finds that a new 'boyfriend' is only using her for sex. After sharing intimate moments (which includes an anal sex scene which Michael does not enjoy), she finally convinces the boyfriend to take her out to dinner (so that the two can now enjoy a more normal relationship). The boyfriend acts completely uncomfortable at dinner with Michael and doesn't stick up for her when she's taunted by neighborhood thugs on the street. Michael also resorts to self-defeating behavior by undergoing dangerous silicon injections at the hands of an underground, unlicensed practitioner.
In addition to the escalating tension as Enrique becomes more enraged over his son's sexuality, there are a number of subplots that add to the texture of the overall narrative. These subplots mainly involve Enrique's descent back into criminality: his loss of a job, participation in a robbery, failure to meet with his parole officer and a violent assault on the inmate who he had a confrontation with, back when he was incarcerated.
'Gun Hill Road' suffers only from a plot that primarily focuses on a father's one-note obsession. With other directors, this might have become an unwelcome, drawn out affair. But Director Green does an excellent job of bringing out all the nuances of his tragic, misguided protagonist with the help of the veteran, seasoned actor, Esai Morales.
'Gun Hill Road' feels like it was directed by someone with quite a good deal of experience in the film world. But the reality is, this is Director Rashaad Ernesto Green's first feature. Not only is he adept with the technical aspects of film making, but also knows how to work with his actors. I am convinced that Mr. Green will eventually become a top notch director in the American film industry.