+++ Opinion +++
Spike Lee may forgive me for not choosing him as the peg for a hymn to 25 Hours. Then although this masterpiece has been enthusiastically celebrated by a small circle for 20 years, far too few people have let themselves be driven into the arms of “25 Hours”.. So we’ll have to take the sneaky route, I guess: “25 Hours” is based on a novel and screenplay by David Benioff, one of the “Game Of Thrones” showrunners! And in my opinion, he delivers his career highlight here.
In addition, Lee drummed up an ensemble that can now be advertised attractively with his Marvel roles: “Fight Club” protagonist and ex-Hulk Edward Norton, Rosario Dawson, known from “Daredevil” and other Marvel series, Anna Paquin alias Rogue from the X-Men movies, Vanessa Ferlito from Spider-Man 2, and Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof. You can easily find out what this cast is up to because 25 Hours is available on Disney+.
» “25 hours” in subscription to Disney +*
Is it fraudulent to bring an underappreciated film to an audience using these buzzwords? Possibly – but in a way it’s in the spirit of the film. Because he also uses lures before he arrives with heavier elements: he first appears as a gangster drama, but turns out to be sophisticated, touching and vulnerable psychogram a broken petty criminal and a traumatized cosmopolitan city…
Drug dealer Monty Brogan (Edward Norton) has been sentenced to seven years in prison. He spends his last 25 hours of freedom on a farewell tour that takes him to his father (Brian Cox), among other places. He wants to persuade Monty to go fundraising, but he refuses. Instead, he celebrates with his girlfriend Naturelle (Rosario Dawson) and his buddies Frank (Barry Pepper) and Jacob (Philip Seymour Hoffman). The latter is a high school teacher and has fallen in love with Mary D’Annunzio (Anna Paquin), one of his students…
During these encounters, Monty will be drawn into dramas that he will not see the outcome of. Those around him also bear emotional scars from this long day as he clarifies open questions and begs for last-minute favors. In addition, Monty breathes the atmosphere of his hometown for the last time. However, it has not yet recovered from the terrorist attacks of 9/11…
In a short prologue, we get to know Monty as an impulsive guy with a big heart who puts his qualms behind him to save a tortured dog. It follows a spooky opening credits with awe-inspiring imagery, which show the city that supposedly never sleeps at night – swept empty, monitored by the light of two spotlights that stand where the twin towers once stood. Meanwhile sounds a tragic, solemn score by jazz musician Terence Blanchard that resembles a determined funeral march.
Monty’s last day before entering prison follows this emotional roller coaster ride, during which Edward Norton acts just as memorable as in “American History X” and “Fight Club”: Norton plays Monty as a dejected, exhausted man trying to walk gracefully off the stage of freedom. Nevertheless, Monty cannot avoid bathing in countless mood swings behind the resigned, friendly smile. He tumbles through grief, regret, irritation, and self-anger, as well as groping in resignation and apathy.
Joy, world pain and helplessness flash before he is caught up in a muddle of acceptance and inability to act. Norton lets us participate in it intensively, but acts in a more restrained way than is typical for him: Monty’s emotional life is tumultuous, but the signs have faded, as have the images Lee and future The Irishman cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto create.
Apart from individual atmospheric accents of contrast oversaturation, they rely on a gritty, contourless aesthetic. As if someone had washed the joie de vivre out of the once so vibrant city in the spin cycle – but not their eye-catching and throat-scratching character.
The first planning for “25 hours” began before 9/11. But as a die-hard New Yorker, Spike Lee couldn’t help but incorporate the aftermath of the historic day into his project. Thus, “25 Hours” became a unique cinematic contemporary document: the drama lives and breathes the very specific collective mentality of a shaken metropolis. For example, through a haunting scene in which the Ground Zero clean-up work can be seen while Frank and Jacob talk about Monty’s lack of prospects.
The city’s proverbial wounds are also constantly present, even as the numerous memorials and “We won’t be defeated” symbols gradually gather dust or fade. This background noise deepens the story: Monty is a reflection of a battered New York – and vice versa. This leads to an unforgettable goose bumps moment: Monty rails at the sight of a toilet mirror about all groups of people that make up New York – and about Osama bin Laden.
In this vulgar hate monologue, Monty mixes unnerved everyday observations, racist clichés and uncomfortable truths, while constantly shifting his mental attitude: Some things he means exactly as he says them. Others he only claims to keep in a rage. Some insults are even aimed at aspects of New York that he loves. It is a burning declaration of love disguised as hate that ultimately reveals itself:
Monty tries to blame others for his suffering and tries to convince himself to dislike New York so that imprisonment will hurt him less. A superbly written monologue, breathtakingly performed by Norton and perfectly illustrated! And this provocatively thorny declaration of love to a wounded city lets you look deep into Monty’s soul, which tries unsuccessfully in denial and self-deception.
Even those who haven’t fallen in love with Monty after this pithy monologue of anger full of boorish charm are likely to fall for him. Then even if 25 Hours is also a post-9/11 urban study, this film is first and foremost a gripping drama about a draining day in the lives of complicated people. People who at first glance seem like clichés, like the ones torn up in Monty’s tirade.
But they gradually turn out to be multi-faceted, contradictory characters that we learn to love not in spite of, but because of their mistakes (with a stomach ache). First and foremost, of course, is the dog-rescuing troublemaker, whose quiet, unspectacular and yet devastating farewell tour leads to a heartbreaking conclusion as soon as his father starts the hearty counterpart of the “Fuck it!” speech. So please, whether it’s on Disney+ or not: watch this film! Taste the barley out of him.
*These links are so-called affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links or subscribe, we will receive a commission. This has no effect on the price.
