Blue

Devil in a Blue Dress

Blue Crush

After last week’s viewing of the acclaimed animated psychological thriller Perfect Blue, I just couldn’t get that iconic title out of my head. Something about colors in titles, makes a film so much memorable and intriguing to an ADHD, elementary level-headed adult like myself. Colors are the language of vision… or something like that, because although blindness and colorblindness exist, certain colors evoke certain emotions and memories upon seeing or even just hearing them. When I did my “Red” double features back in March, I was amazed with the fact that a color with this much intensity could be so aptly applied to such different kinds of films (a thriller and a coming-of-age cartoon). Red is war, urgency, passion, it’s anger, love, and whether or not you agree with the things red allegedly symbolizes, it’s actually been proven that seeing the color red can raise our heart rates and make us hungry—hence, why so many food logos have red in them. But be still, your beating heart, because this week we’re focusing on a much calmer color, a color that some say is the exact opposite of red: blue. Blue evokes very different feelings, not all as tangible or as easy to define as the ones listed before. Blue represents freedom, tranquility, imagination, sensitivity, wisdom, trust, loyalty, sincerity, and depth. I say all of this not to convert you to some religious color cult, but to set the tone (so to speak) for this week’s theme of the color blue in film. Blue is rather complex because while it is generally received as a peaceful color, it holds enough darkness within it to be mysterious, dangerous, and highly dramatic. That brings us to our first film, Carl Franklin’s 1995 adaptation of Walter Mosely’s novel: Devil in a Blue Dress. The film and the novel take place in 1940s Los Angeles (where all good noirs are set) and follow Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins, a WWII veteran who is in desperate need for a job and quickly finds himself embroiled in a dangerous game when he agrees to search for a missing woman. The summer of 1948 seemed mighty hot, but Denzel Washington as Easy was hotter, as he lead this film with style, sincerity, and (full pun-intended) ease. His portrayal of Easy adds to the film’s uniqueness, because Easy, nor Devil in a Blue Dress, are not quite what you’d expect from a hardboiled, neo-noir fiction. Easy is not your typical crime fiction detective because he’s black, he’s easy to sympathize with, and he’s not a literal detective—even though he’s used as one. Easy has a kind smile, but a sly sense of style. He owns his own home, and he has a mortgage to pay. From this perspective, it’s quite easy to understand why this nice man would get involved with such shady characters as Tom Sizemore’s Dewitt Albright, who very quickly proves to be just another problem for Easy. So Easy rather brilliantly decides to fight scumbag with scumbag, as he enlists the help of his friend Raymond “Mouse” Alexander (Don Cheadle)—a character who spends only about 20 minutes on screen but makes a hell of an impression. Devil in a Blue Dress is an interesting noir for several reasons—not just the fact that the story is centered around black characters, but because it’s not a whodunit, but a whydunit. And as Easy, Denzel doesn’t attempt to emulate any kind of Humphrey Bogart or Edmond O’Brien version of machismo, he presents us with a noir hero that is much more refined, elegant, and easy to root for. I won’t mention much more about this film because I really think any noir or crime fiction fan should see it, but I’ll just say, this was Don Cheadle’s most chaotic role—which is really saying something. I took this fabulously iconic class in college called Crime Fiction (shout out Dr. Kilfoyle, I love you forever) where we read so many crime novels that I hardly remembered any of the plot of Devil in a Blue Dress, so I was thrilled to finally watch the film adaptation and reacquaint myself with its story. It was cool to see people of color in a 1940s-set story, that wasn’t completely centered upon the abuse or subjugation of this community. Race and racism are essential to this story, though, and make us confront the police brutality, economic inequality, and general marginalization of black people that was (is) so undeniable in our communities. It has a fresh perspective and an unpredictable story from an otherwise (somewhat) predictable genre, and while the climax could’ve maybe been delivered more dramatically, I really dug Devil in a Blue Dress—and the blue dresses that Jennifer Beals sported as the titular devil. The dark mystique of the color blue really lends itself well to dramas but it has enough lightness in it to offer some hope, which leads us to our next film: John Stockwell’s 2002 film Blue Crush. The cover of Blue Crush would have you believe that this is a fun, light-hearted chick flick about gals who surf, and while some of that is true, it is also far darker than I was expecting. The story of Blue Crush is loosely based on an article by Susan Orlean (a fav of mine, you should follow her on Twitter) and is hidden behind a paywall of course, but I found a great interview with Orlean where she details her experience with these surfers. Blue Crush tells the story of three female surfers—Anne Marie (Kate Bosworth), Eden (Michelle Rodriguez), and Lena (Sanoe Lake)—while paying particular attention to Anne Marie, who’s passion for surfing serves as her motivation for nearly everything in her life. Anne Marie and her friends toil away as maids in luxury hotel, working hard to make a living and support their dream of surfing. Anne Marie also has to worry about her rebellious little sister Penny (Mika Boorem), while their mother is off in Vegas with her latest boyfriend, making her day-to-day life all the more exhausting and anxiety-inducing. But in the wee hours of the morning, when no businesses or human beings are up, Anne Marie and her friends hit the waves, ready to feel the rush of surfing some serious pipe. (Do I sound like a real surfer?) That sense of freedom that comes with surfing also comes with the threat of danger, which Anne Marie knows all-too-well. As a child, she was a prodigy surfer who’s career was put on hold after suffering a near-fatal drowning. But with the help of her friends, and her new love interest Matt (played by Matthew Davis of Legally Blonde fame, in a uncharacteristically nice role), Anne Marie is motivated to compete at the infamous North Shore surfing spot, where the impossibly challenging Banzai Pipeline awaits her. Blue Crush is not just a tale of female surfers trying to compete within a male-dominated sport, although that is an integral part of this story, it’s also about the working class people of Hawaii (albeit a fairly whitewashed version of Hawaii, which is unfortunately common). It left a significant impact on me to see the hard work these women put into cleaning each hotel room, and how disgusting people can be. I was already fairly aware of this, but Blue Crush has really convinced me that human beings are trash and we all need to be more considerate, and that maids should be paid way more. The attention to and depth of the filth in these hotel rooms felt a bit excessive, even, but I ultimately think it’s a necessary thing to see, even if it comes from an unlikely film. This level of human grotesqueness is carried right over to the way the tourists are portrayed, as well as the way Anne Marie’s male competitors are portrayed. And while misogyny in sports is brutal, the violent crashing of the waves proves to be far more cruel. That’s why it feels so triumphant to see Kate Bosworth (or rather Rochelle Ballard with Kate Bosworth’s face superimposed onto it) conquer each wave, each pipeline. She is reasonably fearful, but she is also incredibly fearless. And while she is the most quiet and humble of her friends, there’s something very dom-like about Anne Marie as she teaches her new lover Matt how to surf. She is fully in control when she needs to be and fully at ease when can be. I don’t know what it is with early 2000s cinema and the inclusion of the line “We’ve got company” but you better believe that Matt utters these words as the local surfer boys approach them for practicing on their turf—which results in a gloriously early 2000s-type fist fight. Matthew Davis is so clean cut in Legally Blonde, it was kind of wild to see him with tattoos and a little grit on him, but he was hardly the focus of this story. Blue Crush is about an inseparable and inspirational group of girlfriends, who, through their athleticism and their friendship, have empowered a whole generation of female surfers. Each surfing shot, each underwater shot, each take of each surfer effortlessly skating on those waves, was a marvel to watch. Blue Crush is a feat of technical creativity, and of female empowerment—one that was far more thrilling and uplifting than I’d expected. I may not be a summer girl, but I love a girly summer film, and Blue Crush was a profound Lilo & Stitch fantasy of surfing and sisterhood. This time of year (and again, this heat) often makes me see red, but tonight’s films surely did not make me feel blue.