There is a moment of intense discomfort (for me) early in this film as Charles berates his son for having long fingernails. He demands that only sissies wear their fingernails like this and forces him to cut them. His wife, Andais, looks on and is unreadable (for me). It's a vicious, ugly moment that is only heightened as he also says, "I'll give you a reason to cry in a minute." Such a chilling, terrible thing to say to a child (or to anyone), and yet, it is not played as chilling. It's clear that Charles is not intended sympathetically here, but the casualness of violence toward children pervades this film. Under other circumstances, in a melodrama or a comedy, this would be disgusting. In a slice-of-life drama, it's riveting.

Everything about this feels like it is designed to reveal reality rather than to tell a story. While there are moments of narrative drama and characterization, this film shakes and weaves like a documentary, watching its subjects meander through a hard life together. It shows everyone's struggle. Charles, the man of the house, can't find work and finds himself at odds with his family. He takes his frustrations out on them until he finds a new outlet. Andais, his wife, works so hard her first scene is of her struggling to get to sleep. The children have their own troubles, both trying to survive in a world of poverty, frustration, and stress, and in seeking to fill shoes they are ill prepared to fill. They cook their own dinners and find themselves inconvenienced (at best) by the inconsiderate actions of their parents.

This is a film about classism. It never shows you a rich man, but you watch a man struggle for work in a place left devoid of it by economy, by choices outside his control, by the powers-that-be. The way his unemployment (or underemployment) has a ripple effect on his life is seen in the way his marriage cracks under the stress, in the way he gets lost in the arms of another, in the way he is always tired. It's not just exhausting putting in a hard day's work, it's also exhausting doing that work and knowing it's not enough. Charles is not without agency, but that only makes it worse. He speaks with the barber about his situation, and we understand that his only choice is to settle for inadequacy.

This is a film about sexism. Charles strays from his marriage, and it is insufferable. Andais works herself ragged, and he wanders about, indulging his angst by finding recreation. The earlier scene where he coerces his son into being more masculine is contrasted when he is met by Andais' full fury. Her epic take down of him culminates in this intense, beautiful expression of a frayed knot finally breaking:

"I am tired of helping you dream your dreams."

She rejects continuing as his support, as his silent partner, as the host to his parasite. The film is a slice-of-life drama, so this is not some melodramatic (though it is dramatic and powerful) moment of release and empowerment. It's an ugly, painful argument between husband and wife, complete with awkward pauses, repetition borne from frustration, and masterful manipulations that leave you feeling raw and scared. There is no glorious ending, no moment of liberation. Just weariness and acknowledgement.

This is a film about race. I could be wrong, but I don't think there was a single white person in it. This is the tale of a black family. It is a story that you almost never see, no matter what the race involved, but as the story of a black family, it is infinitely rarer. It is an illustration, a window into the hyper-real circumstances that poverty, inequality, and turmoil bring to a family that is already subject to societal marginalization. It is human and beautiful in its grit and grind.

February count: 3/28