Mangrove Is the Best Courtroom Drama of 2020
By: Marcus Rone
Tags: Movies, Filmmaking, Film, Movie Review, Cinema

Mangrove Is the Best Courtroom Drama of 2020

Image: Amazon Prime Video

Regardless of who’s making it, a courtroom drama is always a fascinating and often fun time at the movies. These films usually feature big emotional monologues on the injustices being inflicted on the downtrodden, back and forth arguments between a bigot and a morally correct lawyer or defendant, and a big lesson at the end about how we as humans are terrible and our systems are flawed and biased. This years The Trial of the Chicago 7 (written and directed by Aaron Sorkin) is compelling and an important story to tell, but certainly leans into that more traditional style of courtroom drama filmmaking. Whereas the other far superior courtroom drama to come out this year, Steve McQueen’s Mangrove, is a story told with nuance and an acute visual language.

Mangrove centers on the very real restaurant (of which the movie is named after) that was located in West London and the 1971 trial of the Mangrove Nine. The restaurant is targeted by a group of white police who seek to harass and discriminate against the owners and friends/family who gather in and around the eating place. After repeated brutality from the police, the owners of the restaurant in combination with activists stage protests in order to make their voices heard about the ongoing threat of the local police. This of course leads to further police initiated violence that leaves a particular 9 people on trial for their lawful and just protesting. These 9 people are now faced with the task of winning a trial against a biased and corrupt justice system.

Director/co-writer Steve McQueen has a real talent for empathetic storytelling. Before we are thrown into the main story of the trial, we are first introduced to a few of our key characters and the ways in which they interact in the community. We see a community that is constantly being marginalized by those around them, finding solidarity and love in a select few places in which they can gather, be who they are, and express themselves. The Mangrove isn’t just a place where you can get a meal that reminds you of your culture and your home, but a place in which you can safely articulate yourself in your truest form. McQueen knows that if he shows you the importance and warmth this place gives a community, it will be that much more painful when he shows the police attemptting to take it away.

Image: Amazon Prime Video

Not only is the writing of the story superb, but McQueen’s style of visual storytelling is unparalleled in the film industry. Something that McQueen is exceedingly good at is forcing his audience to view things that might be unpleasant to watch but are nonetheless necessary to see. There is one scene in particular where 2 of the Mangrove Nine are for no justifiable reason physically detained and thrown into a jail cell during court recess. The camera focuses on one of our protagonist, Frank Crichlow, as he slams his hands against the jail cell door calling the morally repugnant men who threw him in there “wicked” and asking them repeatedly “What is wrong with you?”. The scene goes on for well over a minute and is in a single shot from below as we see Frank lunge over the camera to bang on the cell doors. It’s a tragic and deeply uncomfortable moment that helps underscore the reason they are standing up against injustice and just a small example of how these humans are treated differently than their white counterparts.

Another consistent reminder that you are watching a McQueen film is in the performances. In every movie he has ever made, each and every performance being given onscreen is nothing short of remarkable. Mangrove is no exception, boasting a stupendous cast lead by Letitia Wright, Shaun Parkes, Rochenda Sandall, Malachi Kirby, and more. The cast is often tasked with giving long dramatically compelling monologues that go on for very long takes without letting the scene cut. It takes a very special and talented type of actor to work properly in a McQueen film as he often relies on the nonverbal skills of an actor to tell a story and when there is dialogue, often opts for very long takes. Through this subtle genius, Mangrove’s most dramatic moments come off as anything but melodramatic (something The Trial of the Chicago 7 definitely does not achieve). This results in an ultimately more rewarding and cathartic conclusion that feels more honest and earned then just watching someone yell “racism is bad” and then the movie ends.

While there is nothing wrong with flashy filmmaking, (it’s often very fun and effective filmmaking in the right hands) telling a story with more patience and subtlety is an approach that often yields a more truthful conclusion. If this year has reminded us of anything, it’s that as much as we would like it, not enough has changed from how things were in the past. Mangrove is chillingly relevant today, and even though McQueen couldn’t have predicted the current state of the Black Lives Matter movement, he gave us something we needed now more than ever. Anyone who doubts if we still live in a racist world, Steve McQueen is holding up a big mirror to show us we absolutely do.