George Washington

David Gordon Green's George Washington (2000) turned out to be one of the biggest surprises on the indie/film festival circuit that year. Unlike many of its kind, this film was not interested in engaging in pop culture references, witty repartee, or ironic distance; rather, Green’s film is comprised of short impressionistic scenes and voiceover to achieve a powerful but quiet observation of characters living in rural slums.

Superficially, this is a film governed around the love triangle of 12 and 13-year-old Buddy (Curtis Cotton III), George (Donald Holden), and Nasia (Candace Evanofski). However, the film is not simply a distillation of this event, since Green seeks to understand the whole languid Southern community that comprises the film. As such, the film examines teens who desire to be treated with the emotional maturity of adults and adults who desire to return to the carefree responsibilities of youth. It's to Green's credit that these dichotomies are not didactic or sophomoric, but instead are truly integrated into the larger commentary on love, desire, and maturity.

While the film retains its poeticism and much of its power, the internal conflict with George and his reasons why he decides to become a "hero" aren't as fleshed out as the first viewing initially revealed. I'm not looking for an origin story, but the internal conflict that Sonya and Vernon face, secondary characters who hang out with George and Buddy, are actually more established than George himself, though Nasia thus gets her chance to vocalize the "reasons" through her voiceover. Yet the film thus denies a true ontological reading, as all the information is filtered through Nasia's idealistic viewpoint. While that might be Green's intent, it rebukes the emotional investment that George could have offered the audience.

The psychological reason is, of course, the responsibility George felt after pushing Buddy, causing his death. His anguish over this action, which he never vocalizes after the incident is over, leads him to start trying to actively help others, such as the kid drowning in the pool. He is continually haunted by his inability to help Buddy when it mattered, so he forms his identity around every successive act where he can help people. With that, Rico Rice (Paul Schneider) comes to see a way to grow and mature as well.

Though this in fact gives the psychology for George's actions, Green never really brings any of this to the fore, which is the great fault of this film. It needs some reasoning to be a bit more explicit so that it's not all conjecture. The film remains powerful, but lacks any deep-rooted and explicit reasoning. George's eyes tell us some of the answer, but never enough.

Greg's review touches upon some of the same things I noticed in this second viewing. While it's still a quality film even after this viewing, All the Real Girls is actually my favorite of Green's work, though that one's scope is more limited than this one.

George Washington: 8/10