Klub Filmowy / Movie Club

2018/2019

American Film Festival

The Hate U Give (2018), reżyseria George Tillman Jr.

The Hate U Give – reflection, author: Oskar, DP1

At our first outing to the cinema together with the Movie Club we went to see the movie The Hate U Give, directed by George Tillmann Jr. The movie tells us the story of a 16-year-old Starr Carter, an African-American girl who lives in a poor black neighborhood, Garden Heights, together with her family. The action is set in the neighborhood and the private school, Williamson Prep that Starr is attending. It is mostly dominated by white, rich people.

The story begins with Starr being driven back home by her childhood best friend, Khalil, that is later shot dead with three bullets fired into him during a late night police stop. This moment sparks everything, the story becomes really big, national-scale and that makes it even harder for Starr to cope with it. She has formed a kind of second person (alter ego) at school in order not to be perceived as a typical black girl. Being a witness to the murder, which she keeps secret from all her friends and boyfriend, makes the burden even heavier to bear on her shoulders. She later agrees to being interviewed by two detectives in order to gather information about the shooting. Starr denies the information that the mass media has been spreading about Khalil as drug dealer and gang member, something that he was not proud of, and something that he had to do in order to keep food on the table. Even after her being a witness to the grand jury, they still did not announce the white officer guilty. The action becomes very powerful and fast with the whole Garden Heights neighborhood erupting with protests that first started as peaceful but later turned into violent riots. The climax comes when the protests escalate very much and with the Carter family taking on the King Lords gang that they had many issues with in the past. All these events made Starr's life much tougher, because of her taking on a very public role. She gave interviews, spoke out at protests and she started recognizing herself as a true Garden Heights person. It damaged her relationship with friends and boyfriend. Her friends, that she earlier thought of as ‘true’, started making racist comments and they began to mentally break her down, but Starr never gave up to them. The only true person who recognized her and loved her was her boyfriend Chris. After all of the tough events, the Carter family finally resolved the problems with the King Lords gang after the leader ‘King’ gets arrested and is to be imprisoned for a very long time. Starr is finally recognized as who she really is at school, she is surrounded by her real friends. She promised to keep Khalil’s memory alive and that she will not quit searching for the justice that her community needs.

In my opinion, the film is definitely worth seeing. The topic it touches is really big in the USA and it can honestly open eyes for anyone who has not yet been aware how big of a matter it really is. Not only does it mention an important topic, it is greatly made, it involves some truly chilling scenes but it also has a great sense of humor. I can honestly say that it is one of best movies I have ever seen.

First Man (2018), reżyseria Damien Chazelle