pride and prejudice
by Douglas Messerli
Although Faulkner tells
wonderful stories, the power of his works lie in the language he uses to tell
those tales, language that stretches out ideas, retelling them in different
ways, and turning the ideas connected to them back upon themselves, so that
what might be a simple event, a lynch-mob gathering around a small-town jail,
as his Intruder in the Dust, takes on
new and different meanings as his central characters react.
Given the complexities inherent in
Faulkner's works, it is almost impossible to imagine a film, particularly a
Hollywood, narrative-driven film, to create the same impact. Yes, Faulkner's
tale is about small-town prejudice and about a proud Black man, Lucas
Beauchamp, who refuses to play the role of the "darkie" and almost
loses his life for that. The book is also about a murder, but Faulkner is not
as interested in the discovery of the murderer as he is in the relationship of
his central figures—two young boys, Chick (Claude Jarman, Jr.), Aleck (Elzie
Emanuel), an older woman, Miss Habersham (Elizabeth Patterson), and a lawyer
reticent about getting involved, John Gavin Stevens (David Brian)—perceive and
interact with Lucas (Juano Hernandez).
Also lost in this film is the gradual
awakening of conscience for Chick, as he faces his own frustration for not
being able to make restitution to Lucas for having given him shelter after
falling in a creek. By refusing to grant a white payment for the act, Lucas has
clearly put himself apart from the rest of the Black community with which the
boy is acquainted. The relationship here, at least in the book, is a subtle one of
both resentment and respect, a kind of hatred and a hushed, unaware love that
is difficult to portray in a straight-forward narrative. And the young actor
chosen for that role, perfect for conveying his sense of innocence and
unawareness (just right for his earlier role in The Yearling), has a face that often remains too inexpressive and
flat, making it hard to imagine that he is slowly growing in comprehension as
the film proceeds.
Yet for all that, Brown does capture some
of the strange transformations through his splendid cinematography. In the
scene where Chick returns alone to confront Lucas, we see first Lucas' eye
behind the wooden bars of the
cell, and then are shown the view from within looking out at Chick. The
implication, of course, is that both Lucas and Chick are imprisoned, in
different ways, by racial relations. But there is also, in both cases, a
special way of seeing one another, a shared respect and admiration which is
why, clearly, Lucas trusts Chick to solve the case over the adults, whose views
have already hardened into outright prejudice.

And then there is Juano Hernandez's
magnificent portrayal of Lucas as a strong bull of a man willing to die rather
than abandon his sense of moral righteousness. His portrayal of a proud Black
man, long before Martin Luther King and the vocal advocates of Black pride, is
perfect.
If in the end, accordingly, some of richer
nuances of Faulkner's novel have been lost, the film Intruder in the Dust still is a strong portrayal of the author's
concerns. In the context of my objections to To Kill a Mockingbird, it is clear that Brown's Intruder offers a solution to many of
the same issues that Harper Lee's novel and Mulligan's film did not. Although
Atticus Finch may share some of the gentle values of Gavin Stevens, the
children and outsiders of that world could not save the innocent Black man from
either being destroyed or destroying himself.
Los Angeles, June 15, 2012
I believe that Lucas Beauchamp's reticence in defending himself indicates his steadfast refusal to beg. Surrounded by townspeople who hate him, he figures that they might be successful in murdering him anyway, so why help them enlarge their sense of power by making an appeal? You might say Lucas Beauchamp is proud to a fault, but then a fault like that would be a badge of honor for a man trying to survive in such a hysterically racist environment.
ReplyDelete