The Photograph has a strong message, but can't quite keep the pacing to get it across before the audience loses interest.
“The discovery of a hidden family photograph sends Mae Morton (Issa Rae) on a quest for answers. The journey into her estranged mother’s past exposes many secrets and ignites a powerful, unexpected romance with rising-star journalist Michael Block (LaKeith Stanfield). Award-winning writer-director Stella Meghie (The Weekend, Jean of the Joneses) tells a sweeping love story about forgiveness and finding the courage to seek the truth, no matter where it leads you.”
The film opens with Michael Block visiting Isaac Jefferson (Rob Morgan) in New Orleans, subject of an interview involving fishermen dealing with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The interview changes focus as Michael notices some intriguing photographs in his home, taken by a woman named Christina (Chanté Adams), a woman from his past who now resides in New York to the best of his knowledge. However, she has recently passed away, but not before leaving her daughter Mae with two letters for her to read, one for her, and the other to be given to her father after she’s read hers. When Michael returns to New York he decides to pursue this part of the story, leading him to Mae. A romance blossoms, and while Mae reads the letter from her mother, she learns of another life that she led, with a path that has a lot of parallels of her own life.
The story in The Photograph has themes that I’m sure a lot of us can identify with: living with regret. While Mae reads the letter from her mother and learns about this passionate love between her and Isaac, she also learns more intricate details about who her mother was as a person, that she couldn’t sit still, always had to be on the move, leading her away from Isaac without a good-bye. As this narrative plays out in the story, we see the result of both of them never having the courage to say what they wanted before it was too late, and how it is playing out for Mae right now. This parallel is an interesting way to tell the story and how Mae realizes she needs to change in order to avoid the mistakes of her mother.
The film itself is very well done. It has a very sophisticated and art-like feel to it, complete with fantastic cinematography and direction. The acting is also very well done, with Issa Rae and LaKeith Stanfield giving fantastic performances, with real chemistry you can definitely feel on screen. The flashback sequences are also very well performed, evoking a strong sadness that the love of these two fades away over time as they lose touch, and what could have been a once in a life-time love doesn’t come to be.
Although the flashback story of Christina and Isaac is woven beautifully into the story, the method of how it is told doesn’t quite make much sense. When Mae is given this letter, we see the flashbacks only when she’s reading it, one section or page at a time, over the course of several weeks it seems. If your mother had just passed away and leaves a long letter for you to read chronicling a great love story that may lead to a secret she’s kept all Mae’s life, wouldn’t you think you’d read that as soon as possible? Not one page then put it away until next week? This may be understandable if there was some tragic emotional connection that made it hard for Mae to read it, but there isn’t. No reason is given or even hinted at why she wouldn’t read the letter in one sitting, other than the fact it would skip a few weeks and lead Mae straight to the ending of the film.
As much as I wanted to thoroughly enjoy the film, the pacing was beyond slow, making for some fairly dull moments that really make you lose interest in the story. Although I think the story does find a connection with audiences in terms of the themes it is trying to convey: regret, the method in how we get there isn’t a very entertaining one, mainly due to the fact of its repetitive nature with dialogue and jazz music. I do hope you are a fan of jazz, because if you aren’t, you’re in for about two hours worth of straight jazz.
Video
The Photograph is presented in 1080p High Definition Widescreen 2.39:1. The film looks incredible, very well shot and directed, with incredible use of light and darkness throughout the film. We are taken to several locations in the story, mostly the streets of New York City and New Orleans, each looking very different, highlighting the use of color in the film and the cinematography that makes these locations an integral part of the story.
Audio
The audio is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1. This track is very well done, and as I mentioned, you’ll be hearing quite a bit of the jazz score. It’s very subtle most times, but during some emotional sequences can become quite powerful. The surrounds have some very impressive atmospheric effects, particularly noticeable during the storm that hits NYC, and the outdoor sequences in Louisiana, where more than once I looked over my shoulder to see if there was a bird right outside my back door.
Special Features
This set has a few, albeit very short, extras for you to take a look at. These include:
- Shooting The Photograph
- Culture in Film
- The Film Through Photographs
The Photograph has some powerful themes but gets lost in some of the minutia of the story that grinds the pacing to a screeching halt at times. The film is beautifully made, and if you can get into the groove of this slow burn love story, you may be able to appreciate its message.