Convicts released this week on Blu-ray from Olive Films.
I always get a little itchy when I see a film that can’t hide being based on a play. The transition from stage to screen seems to be rockier than those adapted from books. I have a feeling video games will forever take the cake when it comes to the greatest challenge of cinematic retelling, but theater seems to be a close second. The endless scenes of dialogue, and the subtleties of blocking could serve the medium of film well (and often have), but it is usually obvious when a director feels the language will do enough for the viewing experience, and disregard an opportunity to really show anything. In the case of Convicts, Peter Masterson comes close to fully succeeding at this practice, thanks to an excellent screenplay adapted by Horton Foote, the writer of the original stage play.
It’s Christmas Eve Day on the coast of Texas in 1902. On a sugar cane plantation, Horace Robedaux (Lucas Haas — Witness, Inception) has been working for the senile Soll Gautier (Robert Duvall), consumed by the modest goal of buying a tombstone for his father’s grave. At age 13, Horace is easily manipulated by Soll, who is unintentionally leading him on, in an emotional game neither seems to realize is being played. Soll’s mind is so far gone, he can’t recall who Horace is, or how he feels about him, from one moment to the next. After some time together, Soll’s promises start growing wilder than Horace’s imagination, and perhaps beyond the old plantation boss’s means.
At 90 minutes, the film is brief, but its meandering plot slowly wanders its way to an emotional end. It is mostly made of lengthy conversations, some humorous, some sad, but all of them perfectly real. This small movie provides an unparalleled look, not into a broad view of the past, but a specific and genuine moment in time. Soll is a veteran of the Confederate army, and from his appearance, to the way he speaks; he is a perfectly authentic reproduction. The turn of the century might be post-reconstruction, but as Convicts makes abundantly clear, the South still had a long way to go before it could enter the modern world. The titular characters in the film are, after all, exclusively African Americans. Soll has been using them as unpaid labor in his fields. That doesn’t exactly look like the end of slavery.
The rest of the miniscule cast is filled by the immense talents of actors like James Earl Jones and Carlin Glynn, and there isn’t a missed note in any performance. Horton Foote’s pension for authenticity serves the film well (as does the impeccable costume design), but that quality, and the exquisite performances (maybe Robert Duvall’s best), don’t amount to anything spectacular. The movie almost feels like a short story stretched to feature length on screen. In the end, you might not feel the story created a lasting experience, but you will never forget its vivid portrait of the past.
Get it at Amazon:
Convicts [Blu-ray] | [DVD] | [Instant]
