Ava DuVernay’s ambitious feature film Origin opens with a disclaimer that, while it is based on a book by journalist Isabel Wilkerson (the 2020 bestseller, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents), it is a dramatization of that text. But the socially-conscious filmmaker takes it several steps further by placing Wilkinson center stage, and presenting the story of a dedicated woman (an incredible Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) who researches the history and roots of prejudice, and eventually goes on a centuries- and continental-spanning odyssey.
Shot on 16mm Kodak film, Origin interconnects multiple storylines of “quiet revolutionaries,” from a German Nazi and Jewish woman in World War II, to black researchers in the Deep South, and an Indian professor advocating for Dalit rights. According to Devernay, the story blends magical realism with real-life historical periods. I wondered, on the other hand, how all of this was connected, especially with Isabel’s personal stages of grief over the loss of those dearest to her.
The film dramatizes the original author’s writing process, research, and immersion into the facts and untold stories from the world’s history of dehumanization. Observations and/or accounts from others (including eyewitnesses) create an objective and universal experience. The result is what Ann Hornaday of the Washington Post called “a new cinematic language.”
Perhaps Origin answers more questions than it asks. It also carries a bit too much conversation and some political agendas, more than its captivating visual imagery/poetry (i.e., falling leaves), including the difference between racism and caste systems, subjugation and elimination, and the issue of labels. As Isabel tells us, "You don’t escape trauma by ignoring it, but by confronting it."
What is for certain, on the other hand (despite this film’s heavy and difficult subject matter), is what a bold and daring piece of cinema this is. Only two other films from 2023 took such risks: Sony Animation’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Raven Jackson’s All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt; all three center around black protagonists. (In addition, next to Sound of Freedom, this is the only other 2023 release I saw in theaters with a hashtag over the end credits, encouraging audiences to buy tickets for others to see the film.)
Origin is a profound and eye-opening testament to the power of the written word, as well as perseverance, social change, acknowledging our nation’s (and world’s) history, and recognizing what’s worth living for after all that has happened.
