thurgood marshall – C-VILLE Weekly

Movie review: Marshall succeeds on multiple levels

A civil rights superhero movie? Why not? For a country so enamored with our national mythology, we are remarkably inconsistent when it comes to cinematic depictions of our historical figures. After all, many of our founding fathers owned slaves, and many more recent icons emerged at a time when personal shortcomings could not be as easily concealed. How can we be expected to rally behind a singular narrative when our own conception of history is considered divisive?

Director Reginald Hudlin provides the answer in Marshall, which sells itself as a biopic recounting an episode in the life of our country’s first black justice of the Supreme Court, but it can be more accurately described as a morality play on how to fight for truth and justice when doing so seems futile and may cost you your life or livelihood.

The story follows the Spell case, an actual event in which Joseph Spell (Sterling K. Brown) stands trial for the rape and attempted murder of his employer, Eleanor Strubing (Kate Hudson), in Connecticut. Too many of the facts do not add up, so Thurgood Marshall (Chadwick Boseman) arrives on behalf of the NAACP, his life dedicated to representing black defendants who are demonstrably facing accusations due to their race. Because Marshall is not a member of the Connecticut bar, he requires the endorsement of an in-state attorney. Sam Friedman (Josh Gad), a tax attorney, provides that support yet is reluctant to get involved in a criminal case. However, Friedman is forced to represent Spell when the judge (James Cromwell) refuses to allow Marshall to speak in court.

Marshall
PG-13, 118 minutes
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

There is the gambit: Friedman and Marshall must prove that the accusation is racially motivated, even though their team has been crippled by not allowing the more experienced civil rights attorney to speak. They must face down rape accusations without attempting to assassinate the character of a respected woman, or imply that this is a thing women routinely do. And they must not settle for any deal that would require an innocent man to admit guilt, even if it means losing the case.

There are a few elements in the film that might seem slightly too convenient in another story, but Hudlin and his cast pay close attention to the areas that matter most. Every performance is excellent, from the walk-ons to the leads. Brown is a revelation, and his portrayal of Spell has the potential to elevate him from critic favorite to household name. Gad explores a character we are not used to seeing from him, always wearing Friedman’s past and current predicament in his face, movements and intonations. The fact that he is Jewish means he is tolerated, but the moment he stands up to authority, bigotry emerges with a vengeance. Boseman’s Marshall is always one step ahead, always knows how to get out of a situation and always holds the moral high ground. This might have been irritating and even arrogant in a lesser film with a lesser actor, but this man has dedicated his life to pushing good people to go beyond their comfort zone while boxing bad people into a corner. This is his manner because it must be, as we often need a hero to show us what we are capable of.

Amazingly, Marshall balances modern sensibilities with historical accuracy. In a moment where we are pushing the world to believe women when they accuse another of sexual abuse, the film recognizes that at the time, black men were charged with rape for consensual sex with white women as a pretense for lynching. The fact that the story is set in Connecticut is also fascinating for a man who had challenged the Klan, as the more concealed brand of Northern racism provides its own set of challenges but is no less toxic. Marshall is a terrific film, not only for what it does right but for how much it is able to accomplish in a well-worn genre.

Playing this week

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema
377 Merchant Walk Sq., 326-5056

Battle of the Sexes, Blade Runner 2049, Happy Death Day, The Foreigner, IT, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Labyrinth, My Little Pony: The Movie

Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
The Shops at Stonefield, 244-3213

American Assassin, American Made, Blade Runner 2049, Flatliners, The Foreigner, Happy Death Day, IT, Kingsman: The Golden Circle,The Lego Ninjago Movie, The Mountain Between Us, My Little Pony: The Movie, Professor Marston & The Wonder Women

Violet Crown Cinema
200 W. Main St., Downtown Mall, 529-3000

Battle of the Sexes, Blade Runner 2049, IT, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, The Mountain Between Us, Victoria and Abdul

‘Poetic justice:’ First black UVA student celebrated

In the midst of a national controversy surrounding racial inequality and civil rights, members of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Bar Association unveiled a 150-pound bronze marker July 12 to commemorate the first African-American student ever admitted to the University of Virginia.

When Danville native Gregory Hayes Swanson, a 26-year-old practicing lawyer, applied for admission to UVA’s School of Law in 1949, faculty voted unanimously to admit him, though the university was white-only. On the advice of the state attorney general, the school’s Board of Visitors then denied Swanson’s acceptance.

Swanson and his legal team—comprised of well-known NAACP members Thurgood Marshall, Spottswood Robinson and Oliver Hill—filed suit against the university’s rector and BOV. His case was heard and a judge ruled in Swanson’s favor on September 5, 1950, in the very room where bar association members hung the plaque in his honor. While it is now called the McIntire Room in the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library, then it was home to the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia.

McIntire Plack — The plaque commemorating Gregory Swanson was unveiled by the Charlottesville-Albemarle Bar Association July 12. Staff photo

The nearly $3,000 plaque was made possible by the dues of 417 bar association members. Charlottesville public defender Jim Hingeley, who spearheaded the commemoration project, said at the unveiling that he remembered practicing law in that very room in the late 1970s when he first started practicing law. The marker, he said, now hangs on the wall behind the podium in which the judge’s bench once sat.

“I don’t think commemoration is only celebration,” said Risa Goluboff at the event, who had been dean of the university’s law school for just 12 days. “There’s something more sober.”

Though she said she feels proud to be a part of the school that broke the color barrier at UVA, she added that it is also important to acknowledge regret and “a past that isn’t always comfortable” when commemorating history.

Charlottesville has been doing a lot of that lately.

In March, Mayor Mike Signer called for a Blue Ribbon Commission on Race, Memorials and Public Places after a massive controversy was sparked by Vice-Mayor Wes Bellamy, who called for the removal of the General Robert E. Lee statue from Lee Park. The commission’s objective is to recommend to City Council how to approach those topics, including Confederate memorials.

“One of the really exciting things about that plaque in the library is that it’s uncovering history that a lot of people don’t know,” says City Councilor Kristin Szakos, who also supports removing the Lee statue. “I hate to compare [the plaque] to other monuments because there’s plenty of history to go around, but I will say that the big statue monuments that we have in town are not about local history. They’re more about ideas, whereas this is really about something that happened right here.”

Lewis Martin was the bar president the majority of the year that the commemoration project was underway, and he says recognizing important historical figures can bring a community together.

“We don’t want to tear down historic monuments because that’s divisive to the community,” he says. “What we want to do is recognize historical actions and the people who were involved in those actions.”

And doing so, in the very room that Gregory Hayes Swanson v. The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia was decided, is what Swanson’s nephew, Evans Hopkins, called “poetic justice.”

This year’s General Assembly passed Delegate Jennifer McClellan’s resolution that commemorates the life and legacy of Swanson, who helped pave the way for Brown v. Board of Education, which eventually declared laws requiring blacks and whites to attend separate schools unconstitutional.

“This is over 50 years late, but better late than never,” McClellan said at the unveiling while presenting Hopkins with a framed resolution certificate.

Echoing the words his uncle said after he won his case and was admitted to UVA’s law school, Hopkins said, “Justice starts right here.”