Customer Reviews

Suture

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Written, produced and directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, SUTURE is undoubtedly one of the most interesting movies I have seen so far this year. Shot in black and white in 1993, this unusual thriller deserves to be rediscovered in the DVD standard since it didn't find its audience when it was theatrically released.

The nervous tension felt by the viewer while watching a movie is generally produced by two simple narrative methods. For instance, the director can decide that the audience will always be kept literally behind the main character, never knowing what will appear next on the screen. In this case, we are manipulated by the director who can easily shock us with unexpected scenes. This method is principally used by horror movies directors. Another way for a director to create tension among the audience is, on the contrary, to give us informations the characters of the movie are unaware of. Just think of all the scenes you have already seen involving a young woman coming home alone while you are aware that there is a serial killer hidden in her apartment.

Scott McGehee and David Siegel have invented, in my opinion, a third narrative method that is going to greatly disturb you. In SUTURE, the characters of the movie DON'T see what you see. For us, the audience, Clay Arlington is a colored guy from the suburbs of Needle, Arizona played by Dennis Haysbert - a colored actor - but for the characters of SUTURE, Clay Arlington is a white guy having a tremendous resemblance with Vincent Towers played by the caucasian Michaël Harris. Are you still with me ?

So you spend half the movie wondering why you are the only one noticing that Vincent Towers and Clay Arlington don't have the slightest resemblance. It's very disturbing and, I must admit, a genial idea. SUTURE is also a movie you can speak about during hours with friends because it's smart, filled with references and artistically perfect.

This MGM DVD presents, apart of the widescreen version of SUTURE, a theatrical trailer and french subtitles. The minimum.

A DVD zone discovery.

Suture is an experimental film masquerading as a vintage 50's film noir crime drama. Basically, the plot hinges on two brothers (one played by a white actor, one by a black actor), one of whom tries to kill the other, in order assume the other brother's identity to conceal his criminal past. His brother survives, but has amnesia, and must piece together his life before it is too late. The movie does a masterful job of telling the story from a series of shifting and fractured points of view. This, combined with the fact that the brothers, who are played by actors of different races, are frequently confused with on another, results in a uniquely surreal reimagining of the conventional crime noir.

I've seen this movie eight years ago and still think about it. This movie +simply is very, very intelligent and true. And in the same time it is very simple. It's about the racial madness of the american society. I can't think of better words to discribe the essence of this picture than those of James Baldwin, the negro american poet.
'You don't see me, I'm your black cat. You don't love me, I see that.'
and also:
'Okay. I'm your ... baby, 'till I get bigger!'
We, the viewer, see what happens every day in the american society (and of course in any other racist society): the black man is not seen, he simply is not there. And his white brother trys to kill him.
The story: The black man comes to get to know his white brother, but he, grimly with hate, seeks to kill him.
In the end, grinning and happy, the black man will tell the viewer why he accepts to play on the game and take the place of his dead white brother. And again, he could be saying the words of James Baldwin: 'And then, false lover, you will know, what love has managed here below.'
For me one of the best pictures I've ever seen. Inriching (if this word exists in english- sorry, I'm german.)

I think that's a main point of the movie. The "sophisticated" white society people are ready to embrace the persona of Vincent even though he is obviously black to the viewer of the film, as white, because they believe him to be a white man. The storyline becomes more surreal and incredulous as the plastic surgeon's efforts to recreate his disfigured face result in him not looking like the picture of the white person they had as a reference, but exactly the same as the black actor looked before all the surgery. The clincher for me was hearing the plastic surgeon talk about his nose as being narrow and sophisticated, even though his nose was (to the viewer) obviously a broader nose more typical for a black man - I took this to mean that the plastic surgeon was recreating him to conform not only to the picture but to the image they had of the wealthy socialite, but that only the viewing audience is able to see his true identity, the thing most feared by the white society people - a black "boogey man" (or any man from the "wrong side of the tracks") who unbeknownst to these people is courting and ends up marrying one of their "precious" white daughters . . . very reminiscent of politically charged racial/cultural tension movies of the 1950's and 1960's like "Rebel Without A Cause" or "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" and having strong references to "Romeo and Juliet" - see "West Side Story" !

I think this theme is underscored by it having been shot in black-and-white - plus the many juxtapositions: the black and white ink blots another reviewer mentioned; on the street as the main character drives by, two identical minivans side by side, one black, one white; in the climax scene, the black actor's character is hiding behind a white shower curtain. You have to see this movie at least twice as you will be confused too long before you begin appreciating its artistry and oblique references the first time.

In a way, this movie tests the viewer as well - it says "just accept the fact that this is a black actor playing a supposedly white character", requiring the viewer to appreciate only the actor's skill, not his skin color, as one should in all questions involving race - look at the person, not the skin color. So if you are disturbed by this movie, you may have to assess your own personal beliefs. The race-bending issue reminds me of the gender-bending actor's issues in "Shakespeare In Love" which portrays a subject that was equally taboo to many people in those days, and would have been equally disturbing to audiences of the period.

"How is it that we know who we are?" These are the opening words of the film Suture, delivered in voice-over by Dr Shimoda. He starts at a violent twist near the conclusion-which gives an unexpected answer to his question--but then decides that it would be better to start a little nearer to the beginning. So we fade to Clay Arlington stepping off a bus to be greeted by his estranged half-brother Vincent Towers. Vincent and Clay, it would seem, are almost physically indistinguishable--a fact which had inspired Vincent to invite Clay to pay him a visit. It seems they saw one another for the first time at the funeral of their father whom Vincent is suspected of having murdered. And Vincent now plans to kill Clay whom he hopes will be mistaken for himself. Clay miraculously survives though both mind and body are shattered. Plastic surgeon Renee Descartes will reconstruct his face; psychotherapist Shimoda will reconstruct his identity. Unfortunately, they, like everyone else, believe him to be Vincent and so, little by little, fit him into the mind and body of his brother. Pictures, videos and reminiscences with a relative supply Clay with pieces of a puzzle that are shaped like his own but which, once in place, paint a very different picture.

Clay was working-class; Vincent, a rich dilettante. Clay was warm, earnest and unassuming; Vincent, cold, deceitful and calculating. They were really very different people, as different as night and day. In fact, the differences in their characters are so pronounced they actually manifest themselves physically. The actor playing Clay is tall, beefy and black while the actor playing Vincent-his near twin-is short, thin and white. Elements of the dialog are then very much at odds with the visuals that receive, in turn, even greater thematic focus through the brilliantly articulated contrasts of the black and white cinematography. In the end, you are presented with some rather interesting, if perplexing, questions about the puzzle of identity: what does it mean to remember someone else's past? to graft bits and pieces of one life onto the withered remains of another? to eventually mistake oneself for the self of another? Who exactly have you become? Who should you want to become? Clay's answer is an uncomfortable surprise and Dr Shimoda can only wonder, finally, "How is it that we know who we are?"

An anecdote doing the traps recently had an Australian tourist order a "short black" in a diner in the States. An electric hush fell over the clientele. The tourist meant a cup of coffee made with hot water not milk and without cream, milk or additives. Clearly, being black in America remains a significant negative element in that country's psyche or at least so it seems to outsiders. A number of American films continue to address that issue in any case. SUTURE is one of the better ones and has the quality of dream in that the viewer has their nerves tested throughout not knowing what is to come next. With a consistently high level of suspense, excellent use of sound, and stunning in black and white, with an intriguing take on identity, race and memory, this is one to own.

Suture is a fascinating and haunting example of surrealism. The movie is filmed in black and white to remind us nothing is simply black and white. The Towers home is a surreal, sterile atmosphere with winding staircases that remind us of the twisted reality of this family.

Two brothers meet for the first time at their father's funeral. The acknowledged son is rich in money but totally lacking in warmth and has no friends. Apparently he also lacks a conscience. The other son is a poor blue-collar worker but a caring, warm person who easily makes friends. There is much talk in the film about the brothers looking so much alike and yet they look nothing alike physically. In fact one brother is black and the other white, but skin color is not the main difference here. You keep wondering when someone is going to open his or her eyes and notice. If you don't want to think, don't watch this movie.

I didn't think this film was going to hold my interest the way it did. The story centers on two Brothers Vincent And Clay, One White and one Black. When Vincent Sets up Clay for their fathers murder,but botches the job, Clay is then thrown into the world of wealth and fame as he is now thought to be Vincent. Without giving anymore away. I will say that this film is beautifully photographed in black and white which adds to the overall effectiveness of the film I give this film a 3 1/2 star rating. Check it out if you are tired of the run of the mill action fare

this is a very intriging film. it takes suspension of disbelief to a whole new level because it's two main characters - brothers deemed almost identical by those around them - are played by a skinny white man and a well built black man.
this wierdness works very well in a film centered on identity issues. white brother is rich and black brother is poor. they meet after their fathers funeral. white brother appears nervous - he appears to assume that black brother wants money. but black brother wants nothing of the sort - he just wants to meet his blood kin then go home.
white brother has many problems, and takes the opportunity to try and kill black brother and set it up as his own suicide - ie. to vanish. unfortunately, black brother survives the car bomb and is mistaken by everyone around as white brother - they look alike afterall (to everyone but the viewer) and he is covered in bandages.
as the film progresses, black brother stats to absorb the life and personality of white brother.

an interesting essay on identity which is filled with strong body-horror concepts, such as the effect our body has on our mind and the effect our surroundings can have on us. well worth the effort, especially for those who like intellectual horror but dont have the stomach for the likes of audition

A small, quirky gem that deserves a wider audience. Though the movie owes some of its style and substance to John Frankenheimer's "Seconds" and Sam Fuller's "Shock Corridor", it's an original, weird, and entertaining piece in its own right. Major complaint: MGM waited seven years to release this widescreen film on video; the least they could have done was to give us a letterbox version instead of "pan and scan". These guys never learn.