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Shakespeare Would Have Been Proud

Shakespeare would have been proud. Actually, I think I did see a guy with wavy dark brown hair, a receding hairline, and a hipster mustache in the audience.

Jokes aside, it's hard to believe that writer-director Sally Potter wrote the dialogue for Yes all in iambic pentameter and blank verse, following in the tradition of 17th century British playwrights. Could you imagine that? Beginning a screenplay, story in mind, and deciding that all characters should speak in series of ten-syllable lines, with alternating unstressed and stressed syllables, sometimes using rhymes? I’ve written blank verse before; it’s no cakewalk.

And, as panelists Eric Pierson (U of I alumnus; University of San Diego associate professor) and Hannah Fisher (film consultant) discussed with executive producer John Penotti after the Thursday afternoon screening, the master-crafted dialogue registers only one beautiful note among many. Add to the poetic speech all the other layers of art in the film – Joan Allen and Simon Akbarian’s heartfelt performances as leading actress and actor; the choppy, webcam-esque cinematography and surveillance footage used frequently to capture emotion; the powerful discourse of interracial and interfaith relationships; and the mellow soundtrack, tinged with both sadness and hope – and you have possibly the most overlooked film of 2004. So overlooked that it’s not even on DVD yet.

Dear Mr. Ebert: Thank you for not overlooking Yes.

Fortunately, John Penotti confirmed the Q&A audience’s hope. When asked if Yes would become purchasable on DVD anytime soon, he said, “Yes, and I hope all of you go out and buy twenty of them!”

I’m guessing that more than three years after its initial run of the film festivals, starting with Telluride in 2004, Penotti is still a little bitter that Yes went unrecognized by the public and critical consensus. Rightfully so. His guess – and I’d say he’s not far from the truth – is that Yes tackled the issue of post 9/11 discomfort between Euro-Americans and Arabs too soon for the mainstream audience’s taste.

Really, America? Are you that embarrassed to think and talk about important issues? Would you rather watch VH1 countdowns and reality TV than an engaging film by a truly brilliant auteur?

Don’t answer that question.

-Jeff Brandt

Poetry in a Post-9/11 World

Poetry in motion; that’s the best way to describe Sally Potter’s Yes. Originally released to theatres in 2005, the movie has yet to be released on DVD because of its controversial content. Yes daringly addresses love, religion, race, politics, and above all a world in a state of panic, all through iambic pentameter.

Yes was the third movie shown at the 10th annual Ebertfest on Thursday. The movie highlights a love affair between She (Joan Allen), who no longer loves or identifies with her husband (Sam Neill), and He (Simon Abkarian) while in the midst of a post-9/11 world in England. As a Middle Easterner, He, often finds himself defending his nationality in a condemning world.

After several laughs and shocking moments involving lavishly placed Christmas decorations and odd color schemes that mock a world that has become so serious (house cleaners appear to be the smartest people in the movie), a panel including executive producer John Penotti, movie experts Hannah Fisher and Dr. Eric Pierson, and Professor of Cinema at San Diego University, Peter Sybinsky took place.

Potter, who was scheduled to attended Ebertfest but couldn’t because of filming, first introduced the movie to Penotti through a five minute clip. Penotti, who admits to sending Potter fan mail after seeing her movie Orlando, said he was surprised by the range of emotion that could be encapsulated in five minutes.

“I thought there is going to be a flaw somewhere,” said Penotti.

But, perhaps the biggest flaw is that the movie was overlooked by many critics and viewers, deemed too controversial just a few years after 9/11.

“I think people are afraid,” said Fisher. “They are afraid to see He as someone who is made an outsider. This movie is one that tries to reach across the great divides.”

It is no surprise that Potter is trying to make people think outside of their comfort level. The movie, which Potter started writing shortly after 9/11, makes people question their treatment of Middle Easterners, democracy, and the war itself.

“My gut reaction is that She’s sexual affair with an Arab is what turned people off from the film,” said Hugh Moore, host of Fly Over Zone radio station and attendee at Ebertfest.

Lana Wildman, another audience member, said she felt the topics in the film were ones that needed to be stated.

Just as viewers may question the content, He and She question their relationship in a world that still experiences racism and discrimination.

“So we are at war,” She said in the midst of a fight.

He and She’s love proves the reality of existence – common stereotypes do not exist, instead the world is made up of individuals who have the choice to say yes, or no.

Before saying no to seeing Yes, consider what She’s sarcastic, all-knowing cleaner said, “No does not exist, there is

only yes.”

-Stephanie Poquette