By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: James Rutenbeck
Country: united_states
Year: 2021
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10434706/reference
Chris says: “This doesn’t come up with any particularly profound revelations on racial disparity in Boston, unless one is completely ignorant of how such things play out in most contemporary American cities. Filmmaker James Rutenback excels less when focused on activism or personal essay and more when he devotes time to his primary subjects: brown and black people attending adult education classes including middle-aged Kafi, a bus driver who has dealt with multiple periods of homelessness and Carl, who is older, disabled and living on a small pension.
“When following Kafi and Carl in their pursuits to navigate a discriminatory social system and spending ample time documenting the various humanities courses they take, the film succeeds in getting its message across; when it resorts to reading off multiple quotes from Socrates and other poems and essays, it feels padded after a while. Rutenback’s attempt to inject his own story into the proceedings is heartfelt but in the end, rather unnecessary. Despite this mixed bag of an approach, A RECKONING IN BOSTON gets its points across, but it’s only a start, not so much the call-to-action its title indicates. 3 cats
“(Screened at IFFBoston 2021.)”
Vicki says: “I agree in general but I think sometimes people may think they know about the racial issues, but they don’t realize how deep and pervasive they really are. I think the filmmaker wants to show the other side of CITY HALL and his two main subjects allow him to do that. Just the night in LA (on a major street across from an excellent restaurant) we saw a black man being stopped, told to get out of the vehicle, hold up his hands and get on the ground – all with a rifle pointed at him and police cars rushing to the scene. After he put in the police car, his car was searched and apparently nothing was found. My point is: we’ve read about these encounters too many times, but seeing it was believing it.
“The more racial issues are brought to the surface, the more chance there is for discussion and awareness. The film may only be a start, but I found it very effective. 4 cats“
Beth says: “I wished Kafi had been at the helm of this film, actually! The filmmaker lucked out with both Carl and Kafi, but I agree there was a way in which the filmmaker was both too present (some of his naive on the nose personal voice-overs) and too distant (the number of quotes felt like padding). I think it is a couple of edits away from a final product, I’m still not sure what his main vision was – the school and its effects on its students, or how specific BIPOC Bostonians face systemic racism just trying to live their lives chasing their American dream. Still, what an inspiring pair Kafi and Carl are! 4 cats“
Michael says: “Despite what the title implies, the reckoning of which Rutenbeck speaks, is a quite one, but no less impactful. Combining his own perspective as a white, suburban man, with the stories hear learns by befriending a handful of black Bostonians taking tuition-free college courses at a community center in Dorchester, Rutenbeck tells a sadly, familiar tale of a broken city system that favors the wealthy white folk, and disenfranchises the poorer people of color. That fact that I work for the city, and know the departments keeping some of these folks down, if not the individuals, makes it all the more meaningful and disturbing. 4 cats“
