Last night at the Angelika, I saw a beautiful film called Goodbye Solo. The movie follows a short-lived relationship between a taxi driver named Solo, and a man named William who has decided to take his own life (trailer here). For those of you considering the film, I highly recommend it.When I stepped out of the theatre, I struggled over whether I thought the movie was uplifting or depressing. What I realized (with the help of some friends), is that the story is defined most of all by its realness, and that the quiet sense of the inevitable resolution and the inescapable motion of life make these “uplifting / depressing” dichotomies untenable. Solo was unable to change William’s mind, but should we take that to mean that no meaningful connection was forged between the two? On the contrary, I’m left with reinforcement of the notion that we don’t need to agree to coexist. Accepting other points of view and notions of personal circumstance is paramount. I think Solo ultimately came to the conclusion that conceding defeat in changing William’s mind was a way of respecting his humanity.
Again, I think what is most moving is the realism of the plot and the characters. The filmmaker, Ramin Bahrani, takes pains to steer clear of clichéd sentimentalism and presents layered, believable characters. Solo avoids falling prey to the “jolly African man” stereotype. While his relentless optimism is magnetic and profoundly lightening, there is pathos in seeing that he cannot always smile at the myriad ways that his life has failed him. In this respect, the extent to which Solo and William share similar circumstances but completely different ways of addressing them is illuminated. The dialogue, the problems, the interactions, all of this felt genuine and believable.
The cinematography was stunning as well. A friend compared the film to No Country For Old Men, and while I initially failed to see the connection, the aesthetic similarities have become more apparent to me. The slow, wide shots of landscape ground the film in the physical North Carolina terrain. I have little analysis to offer here, except to note that it was very beautiful to watch.
One aspect of the film that I find striking is the absence of a soundtrack. Here as well, the aesthetic is similar to that of No Country For Old Men, where (wonderfully mastered) sounds take a prominent role in developing atmosphere. The only music we hear in Goodbye Solo comes from the radio in the taxi and from the bar where William and Solo spend time. The decision not to include a score hearkens back to the idea that the movie is dedicated to realism, and that Bahrani clearly has an interest in avoiding formulaic or trite constructions; his is an approach that places a premium on authenticity. Music is used heavily in most films to guide the emotions of the viewer and create tension. Paradoxically, the absence of a score is tremendously effective in building tension in Goodbye Solo. As William and Solo confront mortality, we are left alone with the people, the issues and the sounds in their life: breathing, the engine of the car, a cell phone ringing. Rather than be comfortably guided into knowing how to feel about the scene at hand, we are forced to confront the issues and in their real complication. Aesthetically, perhaps the closest thing to a score is the sound of wind in the beautiful and moving penultimate scene where Solo stands at the cliff. The camera, shaky with the wind, its microphone completely distorted by the strong gusts of wind, perfectly captures the moment.
I think perhaps I would have liked to have learned more about William’s back story. While the interactions between him and Solo are telling and powerful in terms of thematic development, I was left with the feeling that his was potentially an interesting character about which I knew very little. I suppose this was part of the point—as an audience member, I could feel Solo’s frustration at being unable to crack William’s reclusive, resigned outer shell. Still, the fleeting glimpses into his notebook towards the end of the film made me think that we could have known more about him without detracting from the other elements of the film.
At the end of the film, I was inexplicably perplexed, and a little bit lost in my thoughts about what I’d just seen. Still, I was left with a very strong sense of beauty, and the more I’ve thought about it since, the more this has grown.
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