“第一步”评论：范·琼斯（Van Jones）的刑事司法改革Doc作为虚荣项目
‘The First Step’ Review: Van Jones’ Criminal Justice Reform Doc Plays as a Vanity Project
范·琼斯（Van Jones）是社会企业家，司法和环保主义者，以及美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）的政治评论员军团之一的范·琼斯（Van Jones），当时他敦促华盛顿特区的那些人在2018年通过一项分水岭的司法改革法案，称为第一步。布兰登·克莱默（Brandon Kramer）的纪录片在翠贝卡（Tribeca）节上首映，有一个主角问题。这是一种类似于琼斯在盟友和敌人中激起的感觉的障碍。虽然这里有很多值得欣赏的地方，但风格上的选择会感到烦恼。 “第一步”偶然发现了它对琼斯的兴趣与法案的重要性，标题呼应了琼斯的论点，即华盛顿的某人必须采取这一初步行动才能伪造双党的成功，尤其是在此时美国的身体政治人物的爆发不断提高。为了通过该法案，琼斯必须说服共和党众议院，参议院和白宫。贾里德·库什纳（Jared Kushner）是他在特朗普政府中的首选。纪录片提醒观众，库什纳对监狱和改革的同情是出于个人经验而诞生的。查尔斯·库什纳（Charles Kushner）神父因逃税，非法竞选捐款和见证篡改而在联邦监狱服役。（他在12月被总统赦免。）琼斯从进步的同胞中进行了重创，同时致力于改变刑事司法与库什纳和特朗普政府的合作。“第一步”加入了许多纪录片，这些纪录片利用了政治的魅力激进主义者和代表阐明问题 - 考虑“击倒房屋”，并去年的“全部：民主之战”。每个人都以自己的方式踩到关注至关重要的问题和过度销售其主角之间的界限。人格崇拜的难题在这部纪录片中更加明显。琼斯在笑声和灿烂的笑容上，扮演着自己的笑容和灿烂的笑容，他与共和党人的魅力攻势发表了自己的魅力攻势。早期的场景显示他走路轻快地参加保守的政治行动会议。当他前往面板时，大厅里的一个女人大喊：“你还是共产党人吗？”他笑了。 “你必须观看我的节目。”一旦进入舞台，主持人提出的问题是“范·琼斯，你在这里做什么？”，这是一个孤独的演出“第一步”会让我们知道的。我们很高兴看到琼斯。琼斯在智能手机上滚动。琼斯·索罗（Jones Solo）在他时尚的洛杉矶公寓里。琼斯在另一个公寓的办公桌上，这是一定要调整公寓嫉妒的地方。琼斯沉思汽车。琼斯在电话上掌握了一心一意的领导能力。呼叫另一端的那个家伙：杰克斯主教。琼斯和前妻子贾娜·卡特（Doc上的制片人）在拍摄电影期间经历了离婚。他心爱的母亲洛雷塔·琼斯（Loretta Jones）快要死了。他的忧郁被赢得了。但是，许多镜头似乎是为了强调如何孤立S与特朗普政府合作。尽管他谈论忽略左边批评家的吊索和箭（以及推文），但琼斯似乎受到了他们的伤害。这部电影反复地引用了社交媒体和有线新闻的硫酸。导演依靠剪辑和音调，当新的访谈可能产生更周到的交流，而少于社交媒体上的噪音，而不是关于策略的真实分歧。当琼斯与《黑人生活》的联合创始人帕特里斯·卡洛斯（Patrisse Cullors）坐下时，他们的交流证明了洞察力（实际上是民事）关于精明的人可以不同意如何满足社会变革的需求的无数方式。他的兄弟兰斯（电影制片人）与琼斯和卡特一起工作了电视连续剧和网络系列。董事已将这项当前的努力称为他们之间的“协作”，这可能解释了为什么“第一步，”虽然启发和亲密，但也是自我推广的。纪录片常常感觉像是虚荣项目或范·琼斯的解释器。当双胞胎姐妹安吉拉（Angela）参加母亲的葬礼（是的，是拍摄的）时，她说：“我保证我不会像我的兄弟那样说话。在CNN上使他长期以来。”她并不是完全开玩笑。克拉默（Kramer）会做得很好，可以给琼斯团队的两个成员提供更多的亲密和个人时间，这也是对该法案的希望：人权律师杰西卡·杰克逊（Jessica Jackson）和以前被监禁的社区的核心组织者路易斯·里德（Louis L. Reed）。值得庆幸的是，次要的故事情节从太多的痛苦中提供了一个喘息的机会：“第一步”在琼斯汇集了两组社区活动家，一个来自洛杉矶的社区活动家，另一个来自西弗吉尼亚州。南洛杉矶公民泰洛·詹姆斯（Tylo James）天生就沉迷于海洛因，而基于W.V.的骑自行车的人反对海洛因创始人Dee Pierce有一个女儿，有一个Addic问题。这两个女人提醒观众，当纪录片让引人注目的，出乎意料的角色发光时，纪录片通常会处于最佳状态。作为许多颜色的激进主义者，他们对自己的身份的感觉斗争，他们努力灌输社区的信任以及是否去特朗普白宫是否可以与他们的个人（并磨练）保持道德感。琼斯经常在“第一步”中告诉我们他所做的工作。这个故事情节向我们展示了 - 比所有琼斯的反思都更好地证明了他的努力，变革性和值得称赞。
“The First Step” follows Van Jones — social entrepreneur, justice and environmental activist, and one of CNN’s legion of political commentators — as he presses those in Washington, D.C. to pass a watershed justice reform bill in 2018 called the First Step Act. Premiering at the Tribeca Festival, the Brandon Kramer’s documentary has something of a protagonist problem. It’s a snag similar to the mix of feelings Jones stirs in his allies and foes. While there’s much to admire here, there are stylistic choices that vex. “The First Step” stumbles as it tries to balance its interest in Jones with the significance of the bill.
The title echoes Jones’ argument that someone in Washington has to make that initial move in order to forge bipartisan successes, particularly at a time when the nation’s body politic has an ever-widening gash. In order to push through the bill, Jones has to persuade a Republican House, Senate and White House. Jared Kushner is his go-to guy in the Trump administration. The documentary reminds viewers that Kushner’s sympathy for prison and reform was born out of personal experience. Father Charles Kushner served time in federal prison for tax evasion, illegal campaign contributions and witness tampering. (He was pardoned in December by the president.) Jones took a thumping from fellow progressives just as devoted to changing criminal justice for working with Kushner and the Trump administration.
“The First Step” joins a number of documentaries that leverage the charisma of political activists and representatives to illuminate issues — think “Knock Down the House” and last year’s “All In: The Fight for Democracy.” Each in its own way treads a line between focusing on a vital issue and over-selling its lead character. The cult-of-personality conundrum is even more marked in this documentary.
With his easy bark of laugh and big smile, Jones plies his own version of a charm offensive with Republicans. An early scene shows him walking briskly into the Conservative Political Action Conference for an appearance. As he heads to a panel, a woman in the lobby shouts, “Are you still a Communist?” He laughs. “You’ll have to watch my show.” Once on stage the question posed by the moderator is “Van Jones, what are you doing here?”
Being a go-between is a lonely gig “The First Step” will have us know. We see Jones alone, a lot. Jones scrolling on his smart phone. Jones solo in his sleek Los Angeles apartment. Jones at his desk in another apartment, this one with a view sure to tweak apartment envy. Jones pensive in a car. Jones having a heart-to-heart over the phone about how hard it can be to lead. The guy on the other end of the call: Bishop T.D. Jakes. Jones and former wife Jana Carter (a producer on the doc) went through a divorce during the time the film was being shot. And his beloved mother, Loretta Jones, was dying. His melancholy is earned. But a number of those shots seem intended to underscore just how isolated his working with the Trump administration made him.
Though he talks about ignoring the slings and arrows (and tweets) of his critics on the Left, Jones appears wounded by them. And the film references the vitriol — from social media and cable news — repeatedly. The director relies on clips and the soundbites when fresh interviews might have yielded more thoughtful exchanges, ones focused less on the social-media amped noise and more on authentic disagreements about tactics. When Jones sits down with Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors, their exchange proves insightful (and actually civil) about the myriad ways savvy people can disagree on how to meet the demands of social change.
Before embarking on this documentary, the director and his brother Lance (a producer on the film) had worked with Jones and Carter on a TV series and web series. The director has referred to this current endeavor as a “collaboration” between them, which may explain why “The First Step,” while illuminating and intimate, is also self-promoting. Too often, the documentary feels like a vanity project or a Van Jones explainer. When twin sister Angela takes the lectern at their mother’s funeral (yes, it was filmed), she says, “I promise I’m not going to talk as long as my brother. Being on CNN has made him long-winded.” She’s not exactly kidding.
Kramer would have done well to give a little more up-close-and-personal time to two of the members of Jones’s team, also central to the hopes for the bill: human rights attorney Jessica Jackson and formerly incarcerated community organizer Louis L. Reed. Thankfully, a secondary storyline provides a respite from too many woe-is-he moments: “The First Step” gains its best footing when Jones brings together two groups of community activists, one from Los Angeles, the other from West Virginia. South L.A. citizen Tylo James was born addicted to heroin, while W.V.-based Bikers Against Heroin founder Dee Pierce has a daughter with addiction issues. These two women remind viewers that documentaries are often at their best when they let compelling, unexpected characters shine.
When Jones encourages each of the groups’ members to travel to the other’s turf and then on to D.C. and the White House, there is genuine drama as a number of the activists of color struggle with their sense of who they are, the trust they’ve worked to instill in their community and whether or not going to the Trump White House can align with their personal — and honed — sense of ethics. Too often in “The First Step,” Jones tells us about the work he does. This storyline shows us — and proves better than all of Jones’ ruminations — that his efforts are hard, transformative and laudable.
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发表于 2022-7-5 08:32:52
发表于 2022-8-18 15:54:29