Just watched In The Heat Of The Night. I got exactly what I came for: I needed something interesting, with lots of cinematic qualities and strong characterisation, that at the same time didn't feel overwritten and contrived, after watching too much crap lately.
I think it's a brilliant film from beginning to end. Great time document from an era that was getting aware of but was yet to be transformed by the civil rights movement. The scenery from a 60s dirty southern small town falling into disrepair is fantastic, and Sidney Poitier is classying the whole thing up with a fine performance. So much silent rage. Rod Steiger, who I mainly knew from A Fistful of Dynamite, was terrific and arguably deserved his oscar for this. Of course the fact that he was nominated for best leading role, and not an equally deserving Poitier who clearly plays the main character, adds another layer to the racist themes of the film.
It's the kind of film that would probably have been impossible to make today without turning out insincere. Norman Jewison is an incredibly overlooked director. I reckon he's unusual in the way he uses long takes with few cuts and lots of deep focus to really establish a scene. My kind of filmmaker. The artful visual storytelling is like balsam for the soul after watching modern Hollywood and its obsession with fast edits, closeups and over-the-shoulder shot/reverse shot bullshit. The film is a real feast for the eye too:
I remember a thing I once read from James Baldwin where he wrote that no one goes to see movies just to see movie stars like Cary Grant and Humphrey Bogart act. The audience don't want to see Bogart play Sam Spade, they go to see Sam Spade be Humphrey Bogart. He called movie stars escape personalities for the audience, and added bitterly "that no one ever makes his or her escape personality black".
But that's essentially what Sidney Poitier is in this film: someone the audience project themselves onto. He is clearly being idolised by the camera. He's the only one wearing the suit, he's the one having the special knowledge to deal with a murder case, looking and moving cooler than the others, earning more money, and so forth. And he's allowed to assert his status with force, like when he without hesitation returns a face slap on a racist cotton plantage owner who shocked responds that there was a time when he could have had Poitier shot.
