Content/plot
The film takes place in 1952 in the United States.
New York City bouncer Tony «Chatterbox» Vallononga is looking for a part-time job as the nightclub he works at is closing for renovations, and he’s not rich, and without a job, he can’t provide for his family. He is invited for an interview with «Doc» Don Shirley, a lifelong black high society pianist who is looking for a driver for his eight-week Southern concert tour. Don hires Tony based on his reputation. They plan to return to New York on the eve of Christmas. Tony receives a copy of The Green Book: a black guide to finding motels, restaurants, and gas stations that are safe for African Americans.
They start in the Midwest and then head further south. Tony and Don don’t get along very well at first; Tony feels uncomfortable when he is asked to behave in a more refined way, Don is uncomfortable with Tony’s simple habits. As the tour progresses, Tony is impressed with Don’s talent at the piano, and himself, who has never left New York City, which has long been accustomed to treating blacks as equals, is increasingly taken a back by the discriminatory treatment that Doc and others endure. African Americans in the southern states. A group of white people hit on Don at a bar and Tony saves him. He instructs Don not to go without him for the rest of the tour.
Throughout the journey, Don helps Tony write letters to his wife that deeply touch her feelings. Tony suggests that Don contact his own brother, but Don is hesitant, saying that he has become isolated from his people due to his professional life and accomplishments.
In one of the cities, Tony gets a phone call: Don is caught by the police with some white man when they are having relationship’s. At the scene, Tony bribes the officers to prevent the musician’s arrest. Don is upset and embarrassed by what happened, but Tony says that, working as a bouncer, he has long understood that the world is not so simple, and is philosophical about what happened. The couple are also arrested after they get lost on a highway and approach a city at night where African Americans are not allowed to enter, and Tony punches a police officer after insulting him. While they are incarcerated, Don asks to call his «lawyer» and uses the opportunity to contact Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who orders the governor to release them. Tony is overwhelmed by Don’s connections, and Don believes that he really had no right to distract the prosecutor, and that this is very bad. In the course of the argument, Tony angrily says that he is «blacker» than Don, as he lives much closer to black standards, while Doc is always surrounded by rich whites, and not his own kind. Enraged, Don tells Tony that his wealth prevents him from identifying with people of his own race, while his race prevents him from being accepted by white people, making him feel truly rejected and alone in both ways. another world.
On the night of the tour’s final performance in Birmingham, Alabama, Don is banned from entering a whites-only country club restaurant. Tony threatens the owner and Don refuses to play unless he is put in the common room. They refuse to play, breaking the contract, and leaving the club in a very awkward position in front of four hundred high society guests. Tony then takes Don to dinner at an African-American blues club, where Don wows the audience with his performance and finally feels at ease. Tony and Don return to the car, and Tony fires a couple of shots into the air to scare off some «bad» blacks who are about to rob them. Tony drives Doc north to get home before Christmas. Don takes over driving duties during a snowstorm when Tony gets tired and they make it to Tony’s family dinner, which he invites Don to. The latter at first refuses and goes home, but then goes to Tony, where, after a brief confusion, he is invited to the common table as his own, and Tony’s wife quietly thanks for helping to write letters.
After the film, it is indicated that Tony returned to work at a nightclub, where he rose to the rank of head waiter. Doc continued to perform, write albums, and remain a great pianist. Both were friends all their lives, and died in the same in 2013.
My opinion
A great story that has stayed in my heart.
The film has been accused of not following exactly the historical facts. And yet, it’s not so important, I think.
The movie Green Book is a movie that is really worth watching. The theme in the film is the racial problem, which was so acute in the past. It’s very hard to watch how white people bully black people, deciding that they are higher because of the color of their skin. But in this film we are shown that despite the hard times, where people were judged by the color of their skin, there was a real friendship between people of different cultures, and this is wonderful.
But the story itself, where the retro theme I really liked. In the days of President Kennedy or close to those times, I am excited and disturbed. I’m really interested in the life of past times. Cars, furniture, the whole entourage are recreated in style and quality.
