Ask Warren: GOODBYE SOLO

Neil Navani: Did you see GOODBYE SOLO? If so, your thoughts?

WARREN : I have seen GOODBYE SOLO, Neil, and think it is one of the best films of 2009. Ramin Bahrani is an incredible filmmaker, one of the best of the new generation. (Have you seen MAN PUSH CART and CHOP SHOP?) He gets great performances, mostly from non-professional, inexperienced  or under-appreciated actors in roles that are refreshingly dynamic and NOT traditionally heroic. Ramin crafts compelling characters by concentrating on what it means to be human rather than that what it means to fulfill Christopher Vogler’s structural demands.

Souleymane Sy Savane and Red West are a formidable, if odd, coupling in SOLO. The unlikely kinship between a Sengalese taxi driver and a mournful, ol’ cuss provokes consideration of the societal evolution of America thru the eyes of the immigrant and the retroactively-disenfranchised. Ramin is the rare filmmaker  concerned with our nation’s working class, as opposed to the upscale doctors, lawyers, cops and rubes that populate prime-time television. Of course, his dedication to non-white perspectives are in Stark contrast to the tony playboys of this summer’s blockbusters.

I would see anything Ramin makes and urge you to rent (or buy) his previous films as soon as you can. (I need to track down PLASTIC BAG, his most recent effort, a collaboration with Werner Herzog.) They are honest, fascinating portraits of  folks on the alleged fringes that actually constitute the majority of our populace. To better understand our future, examine the passed… over.

For the record, I am working on luring Ramin Bahrani to Seattle to speak at TheFilmSchool in July.

Now, dear readers, what do you think of GOODBYE SOLO? What do you think of Ramin Bahrani? Is he the Paddy Chayefsky of our day, the cinematic Studs Terkel?