In PASSING, two old friends meet; both are African-American, but
Irene (Reenie, played by Tessa Thompson) is married to an African-
American man and living in Harlem as an African-American. Clare
(played by Ruth Negga) is married to a white man and "passing" as
white--even her husband John, a vocal racist, does not know the
truth. When John meets Reenie in the company of his wife, he
obviously thinks Reenie is white. (This in spite of Reenie's skin
color and facial structure, which would seem to have given him some
pause. To the audience of the film, Reenie looks like an African-
American passing as white.)

The film has crisp black and white photography like something out
of classic "Life" magazines. Is this a bit of a pun, an attempt to
evoke 1929, a way to make it easier to use lighting and/or make-up
to emphasize or conceal race, or a bit of all of them? The
director also uses camera angles, such as when Irene and Clare are
climbing some stairs the director has them look down in the center
of a spiral moving inwards, paralleling both their confinements
imposed on them by a racist society.

This is, I believe, the first film about "passing" that is not
written and directed entirely by white Americans. It is based on a
work by an African-American writer (the book by Nella Larsen), and
the writer/director Rebecca Hall has English, Dutch, and African-
American origin. The three best-known films on this topic before
this were IMITATION OF LIFE (1934 and 1959) and PINKY (1949).

Released on Netflix 11/10/21. Rating: +2 (-4 to +4), or 7/10.

Film Credits:
<https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8893974/reference>

What others are saying:
<https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/passing_2021>

On Wednesday, February 16, 2022 at 11:19:02 AM UTC-5, Mark Leeper wrote:
The three best-known films on this topic before
> this were IMITATION OF LIFE (1934 and 1959) and PINKY (1949).
>
The British-made Sapphire as the third?

On Wednesday, February 16, 2022 at 3:36:04 PM UTC-5, wlah...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Wednesday, February 16, 2022 at 11:19:02 AM UTC-5, Mark Leeper wrote:
> The three best-known films on this topic before
> > this were IMITATION OF LIFE (1934 and 1959) and PINKY (1949).
> >
> The British-made Sapphire as the third?

The three Mark listed were IMITATION OF LIFE (1934), IMITATION OF LIFE (1959),
and PINKY (1949). SAPPHIRE would be a fourth, but not nearly as well know as
those three.

--
Evelyn C. Leeper

On Thursday, February 17, 2022 at 9:15:46 AM UTC-5, Evelyn Leeper wrote:
> On Wednesday, February 16, 2022 at 3:36:04 PM UTC-5, wlah...@gmail.com wrote:
> > On Wednesday, February 16, 2022 at 11:19:02 AM UTC-5, Mark Leeper wrote:
> > The three best-known films on this topic before
> > > this were IMITATION OF LIFE (1934 and 1959) and PINKY (1949).
> > >
> > The British-made Sapphire as the third?
> The three Mark listed were IMITATION OF LIFE (1934), IMITATION OF LIFE (1959),
> and PINKY (1949). SAPPHIRE would be a fourth, but not nearly as well know as
> those three.
But a far better film than the embarrassing Pinky.

On 2/17/2022 11:25 AM, william ahearn wrote:
> On Thursday, February 17, 2022 at 9:15:46 AM UTC-5, Evelyn Leeper wrote:
>> On Wednesday, February 16, 2022 at 3:36:04 PM UTC-5, wlah...@gmail.com wrote:
>>> On Wednesday, February 16, 2022 at 11:19:02 AM UTC-5, Mark Leeper wrote:
>>> The three best-known films on this topic before
>>>> this were IMITATION OF LIFE (1934 and 1959) and PINKY (1949).
>>>>
>>> The British-made Sapphire as the third?
>> The three Mark listed were IMITATION OF LIFE (1934), IMITATION OF LIFE (1959),
>> and PINKY (1949). SAPPHIRE would be a fourth, but not nearly as well know as
>> those three.
> But a far better film than the embarrassing Pinky.

LOL. What part of "best known" confused the crap out of you?

On Friday, February 18, 2022 at 6:28:20 AM UTC-5, gmsin...@gmail.com wrote:
> On 2/17/2022 11:25 AM, william ahearn wrote:
> > On Thursday, February 17, 2022 at 9:15:46 AM UTC-5, Evelyn Leeper wrote:
> >> On Wednesday, February 16, 2022 at 3:36:04 PM UTC-5, wlah...@gmail.com wrote:
> >>> On Wednesday, February 16, 2022 at 11:19:02 AM UTC-5, Mark Leeper wrote:
> >>> The three best-known films on this topic before
> >>>> this were IMITATION OF LIFE (1934 and 1959) and PINKY (1949).
> >>>>
> >>> The British-made Sapphire as the third?
> >> The three Mark listed were IMITATION OF LIFE (1934), IMITATION OF LIFE (1959),
> >> and PINKY (1949). SAPPHIRE would be a fourth, but not nearly as well know as
> >> those three.
> > But a far better film than the embarrassing Pinky.
> LOL. What part of "best known" confused the crap out of you?

It's a bullshit answer. Pinky is well known and Sapphire isn't? To who? This is supposedly a community of film buffs, yet Leeper still lives in an all-white, Hollywood-only, critics-rule imagined universe. Even being directed by Elia Kazan -- because John Ford walked off, or was fired -- Pinky isn't all that well known.

On 2/18/2022 4:19 PM, william ahearn wrote:
> On Friday, February 18, 2022 at 6:28:20 AM UTC-5, gmsin...@gmail.com wrote:
>> On 2/17/2022 11:25 AM, william ahearn wrote:
>>> On Thursday, February 17, 2022 at 9:15:46 AM UTC-5, Evelyn Leeper wrote:
>>>> On Wednesday, February 16, 2022 at 3:36:04 PM UTC-5, wlah...@gmail.com wrote:
>>>>> On Wednesday, February 16, 2022 at 11:19:02 AM UTC-5, Mark Leeper wrote:
>>>>> The three best-known films on this topic before
>>>>>> this were IMITATION OF LIFE (1934 and 1959) and PINKY (1949).
>>>>>>
>>>>> The British-made Sapphire as the third?
>>>> The three Mark listed were IMITATION OF LIFE (1934), IMITATION OF LIFE (1959),
>>>> and PINKY (1949). SAPPHIRE would be a fourth, but not nearly as well know as
>>>> those three.
>>> But a far better film than the embarrassing Pinky.
>> LOL. What part of "best known" confused the crap out of you?
>
> It's a bullshit answer. Pinky is well known and Sapphire isn't

I'm not going to argue that point, I haven't seen either. In this case,
as much as I hate to admit it, I'd have to defer to your experience.

? To who? This is supposedly a community of film buffs, yet Leeper still
lives in an all-white, Hollywood-only, critics-rule imagined universe.
Even being directed by Elia Kazan -- because John Ford walked off, or
was fired -- Pinky isn't all that well known.

I haven't heard of it, and I'm certainly familiar with Kazan.

> Even being directed by Elia Kazan -- because John Ford walked off, or
> was fired -- Pinky isn't all that well known.

> I haven't heard of it, and I'm certainly familiar with Kazan.

You should have heard of Pinky. Jeanne Crain received a Best Actress
Oscar nomination for her performance in that 1949 film.