A beautiful story of family, one in which the representation of a black middle-class family in South Central feels almost glaring given the usual treatment ascribed by Hollywood, Charles Burnett's To Sleep With Anger infuses the 'corrosive stranger' archetype ala Teorema with African American folklore, to delivery a powerful evocation of rebirth in the face of abject adversity. The fissures in this family's relationships are slightly exposed even from the onset of this story, long before Danny Glover's insidious characterization arrives, his insertion into their lives doesn't create division it merely exacerbates the underlying problems of this familiar unit. Danny Glover has never been better here, he is an agent of chaos, who invokes the great migration, in that he is an avenging angel from the past, representative of a force that wreaks havoc on this family, and even by extension the community itself in South Central Los Angeles. At its core, To Sleep with Anger is a story of re-birth, as the film is astute in its ability to exhibit the power of progress through chaos, recognizing that through tough times, bad relationships, and internal strife, there is always an opportunity for redemption, cohesion, and the strengthening of the familial unity.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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