For Jimmy Brown (2001) Online

For jimmy brown is subtle film about the brief relationship between two unrelated men. A younger white guy stumbles upon an old black guy and is told to leave him alone. What blossoms is a stark and understated relationship while the younger guy is dying, which is accentuated by the way his pushups rapidly decline towards the end. The title `for' jimmy brown refers to the soccer jacket that Gabriel leaves Jimmy after his death. Jimmy Brown is played by veteran stage actor Dennis Lebby who gives a great monologue to an empty bed at the end of the film. Brian Jun plays Gabriel, while as a director provides fluid camera moves to tell this flawless story. This is unlike many short films...it is stripped of virtually everything, shot in black and white which is a metaphor for the two men, one white, one black. I've been told that this film was rejected from Sundance, which I cannot believe because while very simple, it tells a rather complex story. The acting is excellent, the cinematography flawless, and the editing is great too. Try to catch this film if you can.

*For Jimmy Brown,* a short student film from filmmaker Brian Jun, tells the poignant story of a young white man, Gabriel (played by Jun himself) and an old black man, Jimmy Brown, in a hospital. Through daily meetings and conversations, the two cross barriers of age and race to form an unlikely relationship. Some excellent cinematography as well (in appropriate black-and-white) by Ryan Samul.

Since the two previously-posted comments went up prior the the 2004 Democratic National Convention keynote address, there is a 99% chance neither of the posters (both of who hailed from outside the Land of Lincoln) had heard of Barack Obama. (IMBd's spell-checker STILL hasn't--type in Barack Obama and it underlines both words in red, while "Eisenhower" and "Roosevelt" remain lily white underneath!) What a difference six or seven years make!

Now that all 11 minutes, 32 seconds of FOR JIMMY BROWN are coupled with the STEEL CITY d.v.d. as a bonus feature from the same director (Brian Jun), more people will have a chance to see the short. I watched it twice, and really did not notice that one man was black and one man was white. I DID observe that one was young, and one was old. I also perceived that one was fairly able-bodied, while the other was increasingly incapacitated. The so-called metaphor of black & white film underlining an ivoryebony relationship can just as easily be taken to underscore the contrast between youth and age in my mind. It is really quite quaint to see how people used to blather on about race relations as the be-all and end-all of human intercourse pre-Obama.

So, given the modern post-racial world, does FOR JIMMY BROWN have anything to offer the contemporary viewer? Well, at an overall budget of $6,000, director Jun's project puts about $500 per minute on the screen. This is more than filming with my cell phone would cost, but the enhanced quality of the material--coupled with Kurtis Van Allen's Bluegrass score--probably justifies the expenditure made. Instead of a sociological commentary, I see this film as more of a puzzle. Is Jun playing the ANGEL Gabriel? Who is dead at the end--Jimmy or Gabriel? Or both? Do the post cards on Jimmy's wall indicate that the German soccer warm-up jacket was his all along? What is the significance of the priest's (played by Tom Prosser) opening remarks? What of the Bible verse Gabriel "randomly" selects out of Jimmy's Good Book to read at their first meeting? As you can see, this short raises enough questions for its under 12-minute duration. I'm just not sure there are enough hints at answers, or that the questions are in any way meaningful, which is why I rated it an ambivalent 5 out of 10. It is nice to see director Jun matured enough with his feature film STEEL CITY to answer some of the questions he broaches.

P.S.--It appears the actor who plays Jimmy Brown in the short (Dennis Lebby) had a small, uncredited role as a child killer who is Carl Lee (John Heard)'s jail cell neighbor in the feature, but the scene ended up as a "deleted" bonus feature.