PASSING STRANGE, directed by Spike Lee (USA, 2009) 135 min.

Review by Michael Ricciardi

From the first moments of the opening number, which is an introduction of the band, the lead characters and the Master of Ceremonies himself (‘Stew”, the lyricist and music co-writer along with bassist Heidi Rodewald), I realized that Passing Strange would be a novel cinematic experience. At first, I had that same feeling I got when I walked into the premier of Swimming to Cambodia...not that STC has anything to do story-wise with Passing Strange, except that both begin with throwing out expected cinematic content and conventions. For, PS is really a live performance documentary, of sorts, and a rock musical of the same name. More specifically, it is the presentation (through a remarkable number of hidden cameras, and some “actual documentary” footage during the play’s actual intermission) of the last performance of the all-black (save for the band, minus Stew), rock musical, Broadway hit from a few years back. If “all-black rock musical” seems a bit unexpected to you, you may be in for some additional surprises.

Directed by Spike Lee, and edited together seamlessly using a good number of camera cuts (no camera angle lasts more than ten seconds), Passing Strange is the story of a single mom (played by De’Adre Aziza) and a less-than-typical teen age son (played by Daniel Breaker) who is desperate to get out of the boring, middle class, and conventional culture and life he has come to live in and live with (set in South Central Los Angeles, 1976). One Sunday at church, he has a religious experience, and thus commences his ‘life on the road’ (or rather, his seeking of fame and fortune in Europe as a rock star / musical artist).

With fairly warm humor, the musical also thwarts many a preconception about black upbringing—the presumed universality of the urban black experience being the main one—as our youthful rising star hops from Amsterdam and its drug-fueled, sex parties, to Berlin and its über-hip, avant garde, art scene (in which the Youth becomes the newest and hippest visionary in the scene--trading on a false perception of his “blackness”, which may be his only way of rediscovering it).

Throughout all, our rock star hero learns about love and intimacy, fame and rejection, the search for self-expression...and, of course, what is most important in Life (he sporadically speaks with his mother, and ultimately, must reconnect with her and his roots). There is a distinct, interrogative motif in this work: Is Art more “real” than Life? And the answer seems to be, at times, yes. Life as lived so often disappoints us; it’s constant tragedies leave us battered or abandoned...or nearly always disillusioned. This message is emphasized with repeated use of the musical refrain: “Just when it was starting to feel real.”

Overall, the musical storyline is well paced (only once or twice did I briefly feel a slight drag on my attention) and there is a good dose of satire and self-mockery peppered throughout the script. The original score is pretty (the lyrics are funny and uplifting) and engaging in that up-beat, Broadway kind of way. However, one thing that continuously breaks the suspension of disbelief here is the constant appearance of real sweat on the actor’s faces, due to the usual hot theatrical lighting; we are reminded often that we are watching a document of a (live) staged performance. Also, the facial expressions on the actors’ faces are sometimes a little too ‘big” (for film) as they are more an out-growth of a theatrical venue.

And this gets me to my main comment/observation of the film: Despite the all-black performance cast, had you closed your eyes from the start (and listened only to the music—there are a few humorous lines at the start wherein the mom uses her “real black woman” voice) you would never have known it. Rock music was/is and out-growth of a mix of gospel and rhythm and blues, and yet, save for a tepid church number near the opening, there is barely a whiff of either genre (or its classic chord progressions, as in old school R&B) in the two and a half hours of this musical. Perhaps this is my failing, but I associate black theatre with a more provocative, dynamic, “authentic” (and racially charged) style and delivery, and so, I expected a “black rock musical” to be more, well, black. Perhaps this was part of Spike Lee’s purpose in choosing this film project. Mr. Lee has often used his cinematic story telling talents to pull off a mind-screw or two—especially in regards to race and racial stereotypes. This play seems to be saying that, black or white, the road to fame and fortune can be played out by anyone, and all are equally likely to fall victim to its traps and seductions. Or, maybe, that (theatrical) rock and roll is always the same, no matter if you’re black or white....ahem.

One of the most surprising things to me about this film—which I did enjoy over all—was the shock of learning how little musical theatre (and the rock musical in particular) has changed or evolved since the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. True, the musical is set in the mid 1970’s, and so, perhaps MC Stew and co-composer Rodewald sought to faithfully reproduce the theatrical rock sound of this era. If this is so, then they succeeded nearly perfectly. Had this musical (or ‘rock opera’) been teleported back in time to that period, it would have fit in perfectly, right along side other rock musical hits like Hair, Godspell and Pippin (in fact, PS bears many similarities to the latter, including the music). The music is/was so evocative of this time, place and genre that I felt a curious (and not entirely welcome) sense of nostalgia during much of the performance. Perhaps this nostalgia was the attracting force in Spike’s choice of making this film. Many of his other films have a definitive, nostalgic thread running through them.

Passing Strange manages to undermine preconceptions about both “blackness” and Spike Lee himself. And it is, ultimately, a reaffirmation of traditional values—family and roots being the principles. This was not what I would have guessed if someone told me that Spike Lee had a new film out. Perhaps most surprising of all (and I do not know if it is the musical itself, or the true ironic point of the musical) was seeing how ordinary and conventional (in terms of its themes, values, and musical artistry) such lives, and such rock musicals, really are in essence. There is little that is “passing strange” in this safe and (yes) enjoyable film.

-- M. R.