The verdict out of Minnesota.

Derek Chauvin's going to prison! It's official! 

A significant miscarriage of justice has been avoided, and a notable step in eradicating racial injustice in the US has been taken this week. That calls for celebrations, despite how much more needs to be done. As you know, Chauvin's treatment of African-American man George Floyd last year culminated in Floyd's death at Chauvin's hands, and this sparked protests and demonstrations worldwide; one of which I'm proud to say I attended here in Australia.

An all-white jury found him guilty, which shows how the culture has changed since an all-white jury acquitted the police who beat Rodney King in 1992, and another positive is that therefore a repeat of the Los Angeles riots that followed that acquittal didn't happen. Whether these jurors wanted justice and equality truly to be served or simply for no retribution to happen, we'll never know, and I don't think it matter matter. What does matter, are Black lives, and that this trial resulted in a guilty conviction. And hopefully one of those will soon also come to the other police who witnessed Chauvin's crime and stood idly by.

Now, I am well aware all police offers are as human as everybody else; I mean, how can't they be? But that is no excuse for any misconduct they display, especially if they know it's wrong, and just because they enforce the law in no way puts them above it. Certainly not to the point where they can act as judge, jury or executioner. George Floyd infamously said "I can't breathe" as Floyd fatally suffocated him. I hope very soon, Chauvin enters the prison shower and meets a Black man who knows what he did, rapes him for it and then says "That's for George, you racist piece of shit."

Something Cult, Foreign-Language or Indie #242: Delbaran (2001).

 

14-year-old Kaim (Kaim Alizadeh) lives alone in Afghanistan, an orphan with no friends or siblings. Having therefore nothing to live for there and with the constant threat of extremist violence, he chooses to flee. Kaim goes to Delbaran, a small town just across the border in Iran, where he lands a job at a roadside cafe. At work his brashness generates both admiration and anger among the residents of this mostly rule-free isolated outpost which is rife with drug smuggling and trafficking. While Khan (Rahmatollah Ebrahimi), his employer, tries to shield him from immigration officials, Kaim also finds himself struggling with life here as a refugee.

This Iranian effort from 2001 is very underrated. Working from a story by Reza Saberi, writer-director Abolfazl Jalili here spins a bildungsroman that also very insightfully studies modern Middle Eastern and Islamic culture and even subtly taps into what, for better or worse, was about to unfold there from that very year. Now, you might find the movie hard to separate from your awareness of that, as I admittedly did, but even so, I'd argue associating it with that is what makes its narrative so universal, because just as the search for safety and belonging are everywhere, sadly conflict is, too.

The non-professional Alizadeh comes into his own on-screen and emerges as a relatably vulnerable yet stoic young hero, and guiding him to that result, Jalili paces and visualises this film in such a patient, assured manner, additionally capturing the striking natural locations hauntingly. Very wisely, he also keeps the action mostly off-screen for increased subtlety and objectivity; don't expect any gruesome torture scenes. Subsequently, it becomes an informative and resonant snapshot of a culture so removed (in some respects) from our own and a country on the cusp of historic (albeit negative) change, through the eyes of a young man fighting to make sense of it. Delbaran is outstanding. 9/10.

Something Cult, Foreign-Language or Indie #241: The Straight Story (1999).

 

In 1994, 73-year-old Alvin Straight was told his estranged elder brother, Lyle, whom he'd not talked to for a decade, had had a stroke and was now on his deathbed. Being unable to obtain a driver's licence due to his failing eyesight and battling several other ailments of his own, Alvin resolved to catch a ride to his recently-bought, 30-year-old John Deere ride-on lawnmower and then travel 390km from Laurens, Iowa to Lyle's residence in Mount Zion, Wisconsin, to hopefully reconcile with him before he died. As the title suggests, the 1999 film The Straight Story covers Alvin's odyssey.

I was genuinely surprised how much I liked this, as director David Lynch's work usually alienates me with a vengeance; however, this discrepancy may be frankly because he didn't write this one. Lynch and writers John E. Roach and Mary Sweeney take what could've been a very dull or conventional true-life story and make it engaging by wisely applying a very picaresque approach. As Alvin travels across America, he encounters and gets to know numerous misfit characters, like a pregnant teenage runaway (Anastasia Webb) and a competitive cycling team, and I felt this served as much to maintain the viewer's interest as Alvin's socialisation. It's nonetheless a slow movie, but one that still demonstrates a clear narrative direction. Freddie Francis' relaxed cinematography enhances this.

But surely the heart and soul of it is Richard Farnsworth as Alvin, in an Oscar-nominated performance. He brings unmistakable dignity and quiet passion to the screen here, just like the real Alvin brought to his journey. I should stress I didn't quite love The Straight Story, but obviously I'd recommend it to other Lynch detractors and even people who've never seen any of his films. 8/10.

Something Cult, Foreign-Language or Indie #240: Rat Race (2001).

 

Las Vegas casino tycoon Donald Sinclair (John Cleese) has hatched a contest to entertain the high rollers visiting his casino. He recruits six teams go with a special key each to Silver City, New Mexico, 906km from Vegas, to a train station where a duffel bag containing $2 million has been left at a train station. The players: con-men brothers Duane and Blaine Cody (Seth Green and Vince Vieluf); newly reunited mother and daughter Vera Baker and Merrill Jennings (Whoopi Goldberg and Lanei Chapman); recently disgraced football referee Owen Templeton (Cuba Gooding, Jr.); narcoleptic Italian tourist Enrico Pollini (Rowan Atkinson); dishonest and opportunistic traveller Randy Pear (Jon Lovitz) and his family; and strait-laced lawyer Nick Schaffer (Breckin Meyer) and his helicopter pilot love interest Tracy Faucet (Amy Smart).

Taking inspiration from the 1963 ensemble screwball comedy classic It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, the 2001 update Rat Race is a shamelessly ridiculous (although that's clearly the point) but relentlessly hilarious farce. Working from former Saturday Night Live writer Andy Breckman's screenplay, spoof veteran Jerry Zucker covers this territory with zest and affection which he manages to infuse his cast with. They're all delightful and clearly had a ball making this film, especially Goldberg, Gooding, Vieluf and Atkinson. Among their highlights are Gooding having to drive a bus full of Lucille Ball cosplayers (including Zucker's mother Charlotte) travelling to an I Love Lucy convention, Meyer and Smart flying over Tracy's boyfriend (Dean Cain) to find him cheating on her, and the Pear family mistakenly taking a detour to see the Barbie Museum and realising it's for the Nazi Klaus Barbie and not the doll. (This is particularly apt considering Zucker and Breckman are both Jewish.)

Watch also for cameos from Kathy Bates, Rance Howard (Ron's father) and the band Smash Mouth. It's also smoothly edited and shot, with a fun soundtrack powering all the action. Rat Race is much longer-running (no pun intended) but far and away more entertaining than any athletic one.