In 1994, Isabel Wilkerson became the first woman of African descent to win the Pulitzer Prize in journalism. In 2010, his work The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great MigrationHe was showered with prizes. Ten years later, his book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents went to school. The author explains, in a thesis as innovative as it is hyper-documented, how racism in the United States is in fact one of the results of a larger caste system with global ramifications. In its brilliance Origin, not only does Ava DuVernay bring said thesis to the big screen, but she makes Isabel Wilkerson the protagonist of a captivating biographical story. During a virtual conference at which The duty was able to attend, the filmmaker looks back on her ambitious film.
“I was fascinated by Isabel Wilkerson’s thesis, which essentially argues that there is something underlying all the ‘isms’ that we encounter in our lives, throughout the world and across the world. time. And that thing is caste. I thought it was a bold concept,” recalls Ava DuVernay, who read and reread the book.
In doing so, the director of the film Selmaalso creator of the miniseries When They See Us (In their eyes), realized that adapting the work as such was only part of what she wanted to accomplish.
“I wanted there to be a character that we follow and who would bring the ideas of the book to life. I quickly decided it would be Isabel Wilkerson herself. So I approached her and asked if she would agree to me making a film about her life and work. It turned out that while she was writing Caste, she was going through a very difficult time, since she successively lost the three people closest to her. The film follows Isabel through these losses, from tragedy to triumph. As we learn more about this concept of caste, we create a kind of beautiful love story with this woman who falls in love with life again while she faces all kinds of personal trials. »
The staff and the collective
Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Oracene “Brandy” Price, Serena and Venus Williams’ mother in the film King Richard (King Richard, beyond the game), Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor plays Isabel Wilkerson with aplomb and sensitivity. Also present at the videoconference, the actress specifies that she was familiar well before filming with the writings of the one she plays.
“The work accomplished by Isabel Wilkerson is extraordinary. She is one of the most important voices in our American dialogue about who we are in this country and in this world. I was obviously very interested in the rumor that Ava was getting ready to adapt Caste. Later, Ava told me what she wanted to do, like go to India, Germany… Go to all these places and film guerrilla style, because she didn’t have a lot of money considering the scale of the project… This approach is, in my opinion, in line with the spirit of the book. I believe Ava is a freedom fighter posing as a filmmaker. »
In fact, the latter’s desire to merge theory and biography was logical, given the filmmaker’s career. As Ava DuVernay herself sums it up:
“Being both a documentary filmmaker and a fiction director, I saw in this project an opportunity to take invented elements, namely my interpretation of Isabel Wilkerson’s life, her loves, her family relationships, her aspirations, etc., and to place them in the real historical context of the development of Caste. In short: combining the intimate and the epic, personal memory and collective memory. »
To do this, the filmmaker decided to equip herself with tools that would allow her to go “beyond fiction”.
“I suddenly had this possibility of using, alongside my images, the real voice of Dr. BR Ambedkar, of using the real 911 recordings of Trayvon Martin, of using the real voice of Martin Luther King… To blur the dividing line…”
This is to encourage audience immersion, both intellectually and emotionally.
“I further think that the mystery that results from this vagueness offers a nice echo to the mystery that characterizes Isabel’s journey, as she discovers the secrets of the caste system. »
Tell a thought
In this regard, Ava DuVernay’s screenplay proves to be very ingenious in its ability to “tell” Isabel Wilkerson’s thoughts in an accessible way, but without taking away any of its complexity. One of the ways in which she achieves this is through the character of Marion, the cousin and confidante of the protagonist.
It’s Niecy Nash, the indescribable psychologist in the series Never Have I Ever (My first times), who plays Marion, a woman who does not move in the same circles as Isabel.
“Finding my way into the character meant understanding that Marion represents the audience. Marion asks Isabel the questions that the public is asking. She said, “What is your theory, in plain terms?” “Basically, what does that mean?” What demand. “Simplify it a little more.” These interventions by Marion bring a little light to this imposing work. But it shouldn’t stand out too much. »
The key, Niecy Nash adds, was to ensure that the audience got their answers through Marion, but without the process attracting undue attention. How ? By taking advantage of selected moments, funny or tender, during which the two cousins interact.
“It had to flow naturally into the story, it had to be organic. »
Ava DuVernay’s film is entirely organic. Given the multitude of artistic biases present, this is an achievement. To conclude Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor:
“The story told Origin, we are still living it: it is not the past. I hate to sound solemn, but it’s important that people see the film, because it will then live on in them like very few films do. There is a lot of mental work that emanates from the book, but the brilliance of the film lies in its emotional charge: we feel the story in a way that is not academic, but visceral. »
The film Origin will be on display on January 26.