Almost 30 years have passed between the release of Harsh (1995), the feature debut of Jamaican-born Toronto filmmaker Clement Virgo, and that of 33 rpm (Brother), his most recent, in theaters in Quebec since Friday. Despite some detours like his erotic drama Link with Me (2005), Virgo has not ceased, in three decades, to represent with sensitivity the stories of Afro-descendant Canadians, victims despite themselves of systemic racism.
While Harsh set its three stories enshrined in the once underprivileged neighborhood of Regent Park, Toronto, 33 rpm moves further east of the city to the sprawling, multi-ethnic suburb of Scarborough. Adapted from the novel Brother (2017) by David Chariandy, the film follows two Jamaican-born brothers growing up together in the early 1990s.
Adopting a structure similar to the book, Virgo links the flashback to trace the origins of a tragedy that caused the death of the eldest, Francis (Aaron Pierre) – his death being revealed rather quickly. Ten years later, Michael (Lamar Johnson), the youngest brother, must take care of his mother Ruth (Marsha Stephanie Blake), still bereaved and inconsolable, she who raised her two boys alone.
All his life, Michael grew up with his brother as a role model and best friend. More charismatic and popular than him, Francis helped him survive in the jungle that was their high school. Passionate about music and experiencing difficulties at school, he dreamed of becoming a producer and DJ (hence the French title of the film) to escape his poor destiny as a black teenager on the outskirts of the Queen City.
In fact, during their adolescence, the apartment of the two brothers and Ruth is filled with records and posters that embody a certain Afro-descendant culture, from Nina Simone to Jean-Michel Basquiat. Thanks, among other things, to numerous scenes that highlight the artistic universe of the characters, Virgo manages to subtly represent how culture – books with Michael and music with Francis – can heal deep wounds.
Racial tensions and police violence
It was too predictable, but the scene remains eminently poignant: it is a policeman who kills Francis. Nearly three years after the murder of George Floyd, and as police brutality continues to disproportionately affect people of color in Toronto, his death is a sad reminder of that of many other, very real ones.
Racial tensions, however, remain very little addressed in the film. In an interview, Virgo indicated that he wanted above all to produce a universal work on mourning and on the unbreakable ties that unite siblings. Without a shadow of a doubt, mission accomplished. Marsha Stephanie Blake is heartbreaking in her portrayal of a heartbroken mother, and young Lamar Johnson, himself a native of Scarborough, bursts the screen with his striking gaze, shining with hope.
Despite some annoying melodramatic lengths and excesses, 33 rpm remains a touching and necessary film, one of the rare English Canadian productions to hit theaters this spring. With its 14 Canadian Screen Award nominations — a record this year — it marks a comeback for Clement Virgo, who hadn’t made a feature film for 15 years.