It sounds like the start to a joke: an African-American virtuoso pianist and an Italian-American bouncer walk into a bar in America’s deep south. Rather than a punchline, though, what happened next was an iconic act of solidarity in one of the most dangerous and racially charged periods in American history.
The year was 1962 and the two men were Dr Don Shirley and Tony ‘Lip’ Vallelonga, the unlikeliest of duos whose incredible real life friendship is the subject of the deeply moving and inspiring drama Green Book, starring Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali and Academy Award nominee Viggo Mortensen.
Something strange happens, though, when you start talking about this film. You realise the story you’re describing doesn’t match the way you’re describing it. On the one hand you’re using words like “uplifting”, “heartwarming” and “laugh-out-loud funny”, but on the other, you’re talking about a period drama laced with complex racial conflict.
The two should never go together, and yet that’s everything about Green Book. A director (Peter Farrelly) famed for his comedies (There’s Something About Mary; Dumb and Dumber) turning to serious drama. A story of racism and prejudice yet full of laughter. A white bouncer and a black pianist on a two-month road trip through the deep south. Green Book is a triumph of harmony amid chaos and a remarkable true account of a friendship that defied the ages.
The oddest of couples
The how and the why of Dr Shirley and Tony’s initial coming together was little more than a business transaction; a necessity of a sad and troubling time in America’s history. Dr Shirley, a wealthy and acclaimed musician, was to embark on an eight-week concert tour of America’s southern states. The problem was, those states’ laws and attitudes towards black people, no matter how significant their wealth or social status, were at best, discriminatory, and at worst, deadly. That Dr Shirley needed a driver was a matter of logistics. That he needed a bodyguard was one of survival, and so entered Tony Lip – the brash, burly and fast-talking bouncer from the Copacabana nightclub.
They were opposites on almost every front. Dr Shirley was refined, elegant and immaculately dressed. Tony was regularly seen with either blood or ketchup (and often both) all over his face, hands and clothes. Dr Shirley spoke eight languages and lived above Carnegie Hall. Tony was a ‘forgeddabowdit’ wise guy from Jersey whose most fluent language was ‘BS’. Dr Shirley was friends with JFK and famed worldwide for his prodigious musical ability (“a virtuosity worthy of gods”, according to Stravinksy). Tony was on a first-name basis with the Mob and best known for winning hot dog eating contests.
Stuck together in a cramped Cadillac for two months, friendship seemed the least likely of possible outcomes. Yet – whether it was Tony teaching Dr Shirley how to eat fried chicken or Dr Shirley instructing Tony on how to write love letters to his wife – opening up to each other’s experiences and celebrating their differences became defining moments in both men’s lives, as well as the source of much of the film’s best comedy.
“It takes courage to change people’s hearts”
On paper, Tony would be an easy character to dislike. He’s a family man, but also capable of extreme violence. He’s principled, but also deeply intolerant. He’s a larger-than-life persona and, for any performer, the dramatisation of such a character would seem all but destined to lapse into caricature. In the hands of method actor Mortensen, however, what emerges is a man of unfailing compassion and fierce loyalty whose transformation via his friendship with Dr Shirley provides the film with its deep emotional core.
It’s a captivating performance, transcending impersonation to achieve something more like pure embodiment. Much of that comes down to Mortensen’s preparation in advance of filming. He gained 14 kilos, stayed in the neighbourhood where Tony lived and even spent several weeks with the real life Vallelonga family until, in the words of Tony’s son Nick (who co-wrote the screenplay), “little by little [he] morphed into my father”.
But there were two Tonys that the actor had to capture, for the man who emerged from his tour with Dr Shirley was unlike the one who embarked on it. Their journey together revealed a world of unimaginable imbalance, encapsulated by the eponymous Green Book, whose far more ominous full title was The Negro Motorist Green Book, and which outlined when and where ‘non-whites’ could safely sleep, shop and eat.
Dr Shirley’s courage and dignity in the face of such hatred left an indelible mark on Tony, triggering their unique and profound friendship that would span the next 50 years. It also gives the film a profound relevance, exploring themes as significant today as they were in 1962. Tender, heartwarming and wickedly funny, Green Book is at once a timeless and timely story, with a message as beautiful as it is vital.
Not to be missed: Green Book in cinemas from January 24th
