The Finest Movie This Year

Rating: 10/10 (8 January 2019)

In 2018, the year filled with barely average crowdpleasers and blockbusters, it is hard to find a truly moving movie experience, one that doesn't make you seek the picture's redeeming qualities, instead offering a clean experience based on simplicity and great character arcs and performances.
Without paying much attention to the filmmakers' prior work, I was surprised by Green Book and charmed by its simplistic but masterfully crafted story and tone. It is hard for moviegoers not to get fed up with overly simplified and dumbed down narratives; however, Green Book proves that a complex story isn't a prerequisite for a well-made movie. The narrative is very well structured, the main story arc is the journey, the tour across the Deep South and the bonding of two apparently very different people with very different worldviews. Each scene is meaningful as it introduces a new element to the narrative, or gives a satisfying and positive conclusion to a previously presented problem. The movie is well-paced and each scene is perfectly self-contained, but it adds to the main arc of the characters' journey. It never focuses on one particular encounter for too long, but it never feels rushed.
The two main characters are extraordinary. Tony (Mortensen) is easily understood and it doesn't take much screen time for him to sink in. We meet the man through his habits and the way that he talks, thinks and interacts with the world. The best kind of characterisation isn't done by putting the characters in dramatic situations and offering them difficult choices; it is better to let the viewers observe them in everyday situations. Ali's character Don is far more complex at first, which makes sense in the narrative as he is the exact opposite of Tony. Even though he observes the world from above, he rarely seems cruel or egocentric. His goal is to change the world's view of his people by the courageous act of doing the tour in a part of America where coloured people aren't as welcome. Even though his behaviour is highly sophisticated, he learns the joy of letting go of his routines and narrowminded beliefs. The discovery of newfound freedom brings him positivity and eventually the cure to his self-inflicted loneliness. Being different or deeming oneself better than others isn't a permanent solution to one's social position. The problem is deepened even further by racial stereotypes, as he proves that coloured people shouldn't have been treated as those of lesser value. He both stands up to segregation and develops understanding for the people he considers his own. After the two-hour long journey, Tony accepts Don as no different than his own people and resolves his inner conflict of racial acceptance showing that he's also grown as a person.
Recently/In the intervening years, racial discrimination has become a progressively more present subject. Most movies tend to show the most brutal sides of racism and hardships of the lives of coloured people. Green Book doesn't force us to feel sorry for them; it helps us understand the pain and disgrace discrimination inflicts on an outstanding individual as well as on the entirety of people. It isn't brutal, but humiliating and unfair, unreasonable and unacceptable. The important theme is present in a lighthearted manner, but it still sinks in deep and provokes thought.
Green Book is visually fantastic as it maintains a simple aesthetic and the visuals of the 60s without becoming overly stylized or too raw and bland. The score is fitting, and the piano pieces are as unique as they are described in the story. Overall it's some of the best movie experiences if not the best of 2018, and I would recommend it to both quality movie lovers and people seeking a simple smart comedy with a heartwarming tone and message.