Clarence’s book (now on Netflix) is director Jeymes Samuel’s strange, almost thought-provoking epic comedy-religious-satire-biblical-slash-weed-comedy, a description that can’t be said either way. It is Samuel’s follow-up to his equally ambitious neo-western 2021. The more they fallthat established the filmmaker as a stylist with big ideas, things that Clarence certainly not missing. atlantaLaKeith Stanfield leads a significantly talented cast, delivering a broad performance that reflects the film’s blend of satire and serious storytelling. It’s a big task, and he and Samuel almost accomplished it. Almost.
THE BOOK OF CLARENCE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
The essence: There he is, Clarence (Stanfield), hanging from a cross, battered, with spikes in his hands, dying. However, he is not there yet; This is a fast forward and the movie will show us how it ended up like this, let’s say, Predicament. Title card: BOOK 1, THE APOSTLE 13. It is the year 33 AD. C., Lower City, Jerusalem. Clarence and his always stoned best friend Elijah (RJ Cyler) just ate shit in a chariot race against Mary Magdalene (Teyana Taylor). It doesn’t seem like much, except that there was a considerable bet involved, and it puts Clarence in deep conflict with a loan shark known as Jedediah the Terrible (Eric Kofi-Abrefa). Clarence owes more than his small-time job as an “unholy herb seller” can cover, so it’s a big deal, one that could find him dead, and probably quicker than hanging on a cross, so maybe That’s a plus, considering what we see in the opening scene?
Several things, in addition to questionable decisions, complicate Clarence’s life: he is sweet to Jedediah’s sister, Varinia (Anna Diop). His twin brother is Thomas (also Stanfield), who is a true apostle of Jesus of Nazareth (Nicholas Pinnock). He’s apparently a chronic masturbator, as we learn during a conversation he has with his mother Amina (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), which, you know, wow. And he’s… please, gasp! – a non-believer, a skeptic who is sure that the various “miracles” of Jesus are nothing more than scams and tricks. One is prone to despair when his back is against the wall, so Clarence decides to convert to Christianity, hoping that it will make Jedediah back down. Not that he’s going to be a legitimate conversion, of course; Clarence lines up for a baptism by John the Baptist (David Oyelowo), who realizes the deception and hits him in the cup while they are knee-deep in the river.
Now what? Well, Clarence and Elijah visit the local opium den, and one hit from a hookah causes our protagonist to declare himself the 13th apostle. Will he fly? Well, did Jesus have any official confirmation of his status, or does his growing legion of followers simply act on faith? (The answer to that is obviously too thorny to go into here, thanks!) In what could be Clarence’s first selfless act, he frees a gladiator slave, Barabbas (Omar Sy), who helps Clarence and Elijah perform “miracles” of healing and resuscitation, scams that are quite easy to pull off in this particular historical era. Clarence practices his shitty speeches in front of the mirror; he awakens Elijah from the dead; They collect the coins. Soon they will have more than enough to pay Jedediah.
As this ridiculous plot progresses, a second one emerges, in which Clarence seriously woos Varinia and struggles ideologically and emotionally with his brother. Thomas never stops condescending to Clarence’s lack of “honor”; Clarence responds that Thomas went to walk with Jesus while his mother was seriously ill: “Honor your father AND your mother,” Clarence throws in his brother’s face. Meanwhile, Clarence realizes that he could buy the freedom of all the other slave gladiators. He also realizes what the Romans (who, make no mistake, are the asshole cops of this story) do to people they consider false prophets. I hope you haven’t forgotten that first scene.
What movies will it remind you of?: This is a rather strange conglomerate of Passion of Christ and Monty Python’s Life of Brian.TO
Performance worth seeing: You can’t help but admire Stanfield for his effort, playing two characters, one of whom is split in two trying to make sense of the world, so it’s like playing three characters. You also can’t help but admire Alfre Woodard’s extended cameo as the Virgin Mary; her impatient tolerance of Clarence’s questioning inspires the biggest laughs in the film.
Memorable dialogue: There is no denying the power of Stanfield in delivering this speech: “Knowledge is stronger than belief. You believe that God exists because you don’t know anything about the world, and that’s why you do those stupid things you do. I possess the knowledge that there is no god. Which makes every last one of you, every last one of you, liars! Or fools.”
Sex and skin: Almost naked in a scene set in a strip club at the turn of the millennium.
Our opinion: That moving Stanfield speech is the most powerful moment in Clarence’s book, but the film doesn’t stick to that statement; lands on a wildly different note, and I’m not sure if this is a bold move on Samuel’s part or one that simply creates confusion. This is a classic case of critics complaining about whether a film “works” or not, that is, whether its internal logic or thematic openings are consistent; He finds Samuel firing shots, from mmm… sacrylic From cheap shots to casual criticism of social and racial dynamics, to altruistic exhortations like Clarence’s “what nonsense are you doing” missive.
That is to say, I was teased and entertained (even during significant stretches of this long 129-minute film), but I ultimately felt dissatisfied. No one can say whether belief or disbelief is the greater ideology, now or ever, but the film can’t seem to decide whether either should be revered or ridiculed. Samuel pides the narrative into three parts, and while the first two are appealingly ramshackle, the third loses its grip as its sense of laid-back fun turns tonally and thematically dark. It leaves you wondering what the filmmaker is trying to say beyond a slightly exasperated What The F—? Clarence lives his life with the lack of structure that can define a rigorous inpiduality, stares at the dogma to which his brother conforms, and ends up learning that nothing is under his control. Or at least that’s an almost cringe-worthy interpretation of this confusing spiritual journey that is ultimately more confusing than intellectually or emotionally challenging.
You can say this about it: Clarence’s book is the only film on record that begins as a stoner comedy and ends with a disturbing and brutally graphic crucifixion. Friday if Craig Jones ended up being tortured and executed. Samuel retains the stylistic brio that he established in The more they fall, livening up the film with music and calculated anachronisms; a montage in which Clarence amasses a following of his own is an inspired set of split screens and visual comedy that’s as funny as it is clever. Some might find such flourishes distracting, but they work extraordinarily well with the film’s satirical components. It’s the push and pull between the silly and the sincere that almost destroys the film.
Our call: No. Clarence’s book it does not work”. But is he worth seeing and praiseworthy for his ambition? Without a doubt, yes. TRANSMIT IT.
John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic living in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
