Susan Granger’s review of “Passing” (Netflix)
File this under “Everything old is new again…” since – back in 1949 – Elia Kazan directed “Pinky,” nominated for three Oscars, in which Jeanne Crain played a light-skinned Black woman in love with a white doctor (William Lundigan), who is unaware of her race; her costars were Ethel Barrymore and Ethel Walters.
Now there’s “Passing,” revolving around light-skinned Irene Redfield (Tessa Thompson), an upper-middle class doctor’s dutiful wife who is active in the Negro League as part of the Harlem community in the 1920s.
One blistering hot summer afternoon when Irene renews her Chicago childhood friendship with lonely, light-skinned Clare Kendry (Ruth Negga), she’s shocked to discover that charming, blond-haired Clare is actually ‘passing’ as white.
The two women’s lives become more dangerously intertwined, as Clare longs for a deeper connection to the food, customs and Black people that she has left behind, particularly since Irene knows that that provocative, self-destructive Clare has never told the truth to her wealthy, white, overtly racist husband John (Alexander Skarsgard).
Based on Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel, this picture marks the writing/directing debut of British actress Rebecca Hall, daughter of Sir Peter Hall (founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company) and American opera singer Maria Ewing.
For years, Hall intuitively sensed there were gaps in her mother’s biracial Detroit family history that no one ever discussed. Considering Larsen’s Harlem Renaissance novel a psychological ‘noir,’ Hall wrote the first draft of her script in 10 days, constantly revising it as she sought financing.
Working with cinematographer Eduard Grau, Hall insisted on filming in black-and-white on location in Harlem, and she completed post-production during the pandemic; the film is dedicated to Hall’s mother.
Cleverly timed, “Passing” – about identity and belonging – builds on current conversation about color, cruelty, privilege and secrets.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Passing” is a perceptive, if slow-paced 7 – in theaters and streaming on Netflix.
