GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL 2020 - Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am
GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL 2020
Toni Morrison is said to be the “emancipation proclamation of the human language” (quote: David Carrasco, a Harvard professor featured in the documentary). Her work is universally recognised as being brutally honest. It is representative of a perspective of the human experience not often captured in literature. Though some have criticized her for only writing about African-American life, she takes full ownership of this literary identity. She depicts the minutiae and micro-aggressions of daily life within black communities that contribute to a deep-seated internalized oppression and a devaluation of black people as human beings.
With this understanding of Morrison’s work in mind, director Timothy Greenfield-Sanders strives for a similarly honest and personalised journey through the life and mind of its titular subject. Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am captures the inner workings of Morrison’s artistic vision– as well as the beauty in her command of language – through an abstract organisation of ideas and a contextualization of her work in contemporary society. The film pairs the sequences of her life with the subtextual content of her comprehensive bibliography. Morrison’s unique voice is captured in beautifully imprecise editing, in a jazz-influenced musical score (courtesy of Kathryn Bostic), and a contemplative tone that aims to embody her personality throughout.
Morrison serves as a fascinating, endearing, and engaging presence over the course of the documentary. She portrays herself as a confident, reflective and intellectual subject whose work stems from a painful personal experience. Her work explores the lost perspectives of African-Americans across several generations. Subjects include: the aforementioned internalized oppression of young black girls, the “taboo” nature of sexuality for black women and the difficult choices made by African-Americans seeking freedom from slavery. Alongside an insight into their daily lives, all these issues are explored within this non-fiction narrative.
Much of the content of Morrison’s life is delivered with little context. The film fully immerses the viewer by dropping them into the middle of her perspective. This approach is very much in line with Morrison’s writing style; She makes a point of not explaining herself or apologising to white people for being black. The film skillfully captures this unapologetic attitude in both her writing and her life. It imbues her persona with a level of balance between her contrasting no-nonsense and peaceful sides.
Morrison is undoubtedly a complicated figure but featuring her as the main character of her own story does a lot to humanize her and slowly develop her personality without framing it in a negative light. Everything in this film feels honest and powerful and something Morrison might have done herself. Here, she feels like a tangible, real person with a colorful, spirited sensibility and an insightful view on the stories that matter. Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am paints a raw and unflinching portrait of author, Toni Morrison that authentically captures the true aesthetic and essence of her literary accomplishments and feels undeniably like Morrison herself.
