Retrograde

CATERPILLAR EYEBROW ARCH – ⭐⭐⭐

The Drama

It’s 1950’s Hollywood.

Screenwriter, Bobby, and film executive, Mr Parks, are meeting in a spacious, but austere, office to discuss the signing of a young black actor, Sidney Poitier, to a major production.

Both men are white. Bobby is Poitier’s ally, at least notionally. Mr Parks, from the outset, seems less aligned with the actor’s interests.

Sidney Poitier is eventually introduced to the office. He brushes casually racist remarks from his shoulder. He plays along when asked to reproduce his Caribbean accent. He seems willing to play the game.

But this is the time of McCarthyism and red scares and blacklists. There is something sinister lurking beneath the surface-level conversation. Eventually, Poitier will be confronted with a choice. To act in his own self-interest. Or to act on principle.

Which way will the young man go?

What My Eyebrows Told Me

My eyebrows flicked between a Caterpillar Arch and High Arch throughout the 90-minute run-time of Retrograde. I found the acting extraordinary. Stanley Townsend was believable as the overbearing and manipulative, Mr Parks. Oliver Johnstone did a fine job as Bobby, a character facing his own dilemma over whether to advise his friend to stand by his principles or to cave in to craven self-interest. But the stand-out, as he should be, was Ivanno Jeremiah as Sidney Poitier. He played the role with quie dignity until the climax, where more incendiary dialogue became warranted.

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Retrograde