Fences (2016)
“Some people build fences to keep people out, and some people build fences to keep people in”
In a relentless and powerhouse performance, Denzel Washington was Oscar nominated in 2017 for his portrayal of the driven and conflicted soul that is “Troy Maxson”. A loquacious and garrulous character and story teller, Maxson is a refuse collector in post World War Two Pittsburgh and now in his late 40’s he continually reflects via his elongated stories on his shady youth, of defeating the “Grim Reaper” as a child and of his brilliance in the professional and period titled Negro Baseball Leagues. To his mind, there were only two better players than him in his day but he remains bitter at being passed up on account of the colour of his skin and both his resentment and antagonism at “the white man” or even occasionally “the devil” who pervades his thinking. His stories, whilst captivating his audience as he holds court in the backyard of his home often betray a simmering anger at the world and despite his pre war professional success and post war hard work “I ain’t got a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of”. Whether a rambling story or his views on school, race, family or more often than not, baseball, his word is absolutely final and this often cuts a shallow and selfish figure of a man who as the film progresses reveals an often unlikeable and reprehensible man. Interestingly, Maxson places a high value on “doing right by someone” and “respect” and as the film again progresses we see this evidenced in spades, yet not for the long suffering wife or the son who adores him, and this dichotomy runs at the very heart of this conflicted man who turns everything into a baseball analogy, who pushes those closest to him the furthest away and whilst wanting love and respect has very little in the way of returning it.
During my cinema going life I have had the very great pleasure of seeing Denzel Washington produce awe inspiring performance after performance, whether in Training Day, Glory, Malcolm X, Man on Fire or The Hurricane to name just a few, and his performance here as the conflicted, yet arguably man of his time Troy Maxson is one of the very finest of his career. Fences is also his greatest achievement to date as a Director and rightly nominated for a Best Picture Oscar in 2017. From the film’s very first frame until its last, you can see the love and enthusiasm that has been poured into this film by Washington in what has previously been performed as a stage play and adapted here for the big screen by Washington behind the camera and based upon both a screenplay and original novel by August Wilson. The love with which the film is made is evident as is the reverential nature and respect from every cast member from the Director onward.
What is also evident is the film’s “motion” as the camera often flows from scene to scene smoothly and even though primarily set in three distinct settings (house, backyard or surrounding neighbourhood), Washington, with Editor Hughes Winborne and Cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen engage you as the audience in these intimate, if rarely changing, settings. Both behind and in front of the camera, Fences really is a rare film that is entirely resplendent in the total sum of its parts. With its previous life as a stage play there are only ten credited characters in the entirety of this two hour plus film and even then only six should be considered major central or supporting roles, with Viola Davis outstanding and fully deserving of her Oscar win in 2017 for an Actress in a Supporting Role as Maxson’s wife “Rose Maxson”. A housewife and homemaker, Rose has been married to Troy for eighteen years, listened to his every story “Every time Troy tell that story he finds a different way to tell it” and where Davis excels as Rose is with her subtlety of slight touches, glances and looks as she listens in on yet another story or yet another complaint from her husband. Her role famously develops into a thunderous one equal to that of Washington, but the key to Davis’ role is her engagement as a watcher and listener and Washington, in his role now as Director, captures this magnificently throughout.
The Maxson family is a complex one with “Lyons” (Russell Hornsby) a son from a previous relationship but anything but his Father’s son, preferring music and following his dreams rather than the hard work espoused by his Father and Lyons has a half brother “Cory” (Jovan Adepo) who in Lyons’ regular absence picks up his Father’s ire. In his feature length film debut, Adepo is stunning in his role of the put upon son Cory who simply only has eyes for his overbearing Father. He simply wants to follow in his Father’s illustrious sporting footsteps and this is echoed by Rose’s furious exclamation to Troy of “Everything that boy does he does for you” and considering the vaunted company he keeps here, and in his debut film, Adepo is superb throughout. Stephen Henderson excels (as he always does on film or TV) in his role of Troy’s closest friend and co-worker “Bono” and it’s to whom we go to for the tag line that begins my blog article here and the truest and most apt quote for the film as a whole as well as a beaming light of smiling humanity in the film. Finally we have the brilliant Mykelti Williamson as “Gabe”, brother of Troy and returning veteran of World War Two in a heart breaking role displaying the true horrors of war and through him, a chink of compassion and love from his brother.
“That’s all death is, a fast ball on the outside corner” so says Troy Maxson in yet another of the multitude of baseball analogies he employs throughout the film. Fences can be seen as a literal and metaphorical take on the barriers we all employ in our everyday relationships and Troy has so many to breakdown in a superlative film from both a true actor of his generation in a role he was destined to play and from a Director still learning his craft with an outstanding film for his generation.
Fences is a gem of a film and very highly recommended.
“Fences” can also be found within volume 2 of my 7 volumes of “Essential Film Reviews Collection” on Amazon with hundreds of similarly spoiler free reviews available to read for free within all 7 volumes should you have a Kindle “Unlimited” package. All nine of my self-published books can also be read for free or of course you could treat yourself to the paperback or hardback versions as quite frankly they’d look rather dandy sitting on your bookshelves!
"The Essential Film Reviews Collection VOL.2" - link to Amazon
Thanks for reading. I hope this message in a bottle in The Matrix finds you well, prospering, and the right way up in an upside down world.