Suture

Starring:Dennis Haysbert, Mel Harris, Sab Shimono, Dina Merrill, Michael Harris, David Graf, Fran Ryan, John Ingle, Sanford Gibbons, Mark DeMichele, Sandra Ellis Lafferty, Capri Darling, Carol Kiernan, Laura Groppe, Mel Coleman, Lon Carli, Ann Van Wey, Sam Smiley, Seth Siegel, Vincent Barbi
Director: Scott McGehee, David Siegel (III)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

This black-and-white neo-noir is written and directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, who also teamed up for 1999's Lush. Vincent Towers and Clay Arlington are half-brothers who meet for the first time at their father's funeral. The two share such an uncanny resemblance that when Vincent decides to fake his own death, he tries to substitute Clay as his body. Clay, amnesiac and not quite dead, finds himself the inheritor of both Vincent's money and his rather pressing problems. A fine plot for a suspense movie as it is, but McGehee and Siegel throw in the added twist of having Vincent played by a white actor and Clay by an African American. Oddly enough, the choice works, and raises the piece from a thriller to a meditation on the nature of identity. Suture includes several other interesting stylistic riffs as well: Clay's plastic surgeon is named Renee Descartes, and his psychiatrist works in an office decorated with huge Rorschach blowups. It's a pity Suture was so little seen in its original release--it offers both a compelling suspense plot and tasty mental candy to chew on. --Ali Davis

Description

A stunning first film (The Hollywood Reporter) by the independent writing/directing team of David Siegel and Scott McGehee (Lush), Suture takes a non-traditional approach to casting, placing an African-American actor in the role of an identical brother to a white man. Equally evocative is the choice to shoot in Black and White, adding further contrast to the striking noir style and dark undertones of this exceedingly smart (Variety) psychological thriller. You can barely tell Vincent and Clay apart. So, when these two estranged half-brothers meet for the first time,Vincentthe prime suspect in their father's murderdecides to kill Clay so he can swap identities and pin the crime on his new-found sibling. But Clay miraculously survives the attempt on his life. And now, suffering from amnesia and thinking he's Vincent, Clay must prove that he's not the killer before he's sentenced to life for the crime he believes he didn't commit!

Customer Reviews:

Suture: remembering someone eslse's past.......2005-04-07

"How is it that we know who we are?" These are the opening words of the film Suture, delivered in voice-over by Dr Shimoda. He starts at a violent twist near the conclusion-which gives an unexpected answer to his question--but then decides that it would be better to start a little nearer to the beginning. So we fade to Clay Arlington stepping off a bus to be greeted by his estranged half-brother Vincent Towers. Vincent and Clay, it would seem, are almost physically indistinguishable--a fact which had inspired Vincent to invite Clay to pay him a visit. It seems they saw one another for the first time at the funeral of their father whom Vincent is suspected of having murdered. And Vincent now plans to kill Clay whom he hopes will be mistaken for himself. Clay miraculously survives though both mind and body are shattered. Plastic surgeon Renee Descartes will reconstruct his face; psychotherapist Shimoda will reconstruct his identity. Unfortunately, they, like everyone else, believe him to be Vincent and so, little by little, fit him into the mind and body of his brother. Pictures, videos and reminiscences with a relative supply Clay with pieces of a puzzle that are shaped like his own but which, once in place, paint a very different picture.

Clay was working-class; Vincent, a rich dilettante. Clay was warm, earnest and unassuming; Vincent, cold, deceitful and calculating. They were really very different people, as different as night and day. In fact, the differences in their characters are so pronounced they actually manifest themselves physically. The actor playing Clay is tall, beefy and black while the actor playing Vincent-his near twin-is short, thin and white. Elements of the dialog are then very much at odds with the visuals that receive, in turn, even greater thematic focus through the brilliantly articulated contrasts of the black and white cinematography. In the end, you are presented with some rather interesting, if perplexing, questions about the puzzle of identity: what does it mean to remember someone else's past? to graft bits and pieces of one life onto the withered remains of another? to eventually mistake oneself for the self of another? Who exactly have you become? Who should you want to become? Clay's answer is an uncomfortable surprise and Dr Shimoda can only wonder, finally, "How is it that we know who we are?"

Brilliantly put together with masterly maintenance of tone.......2004-06-07

An anecdote doing the traps recently had an Australian tourist order a "short black" in a diner in the States. An electric hush fell over the clientele. The tourist meant a cup of coffee made with hot water not milk and without cream, milk or additives. Clearly, being black in America remains a significant negative element in that country's psyche or at least so it seems to outsiders. A number of American films continue to address that issue in any case. SUTURE is one of the better ones and has the quality of dream in that the viewer has their nerves tested throughout not knowing what is to come next. With a consistently high level of suspense, excellent use of sound, and stunning in black and white, with an intriguing take on identity, race and memory, this is one to own.

thrilling, intelligent, symbollic and I just can't forget it.......2003-01-02

I've seen this movie eight years ago and still think about it. This movie +simply is very, very intelligent and true. And in the same time it is very simple. It's about the racial madness of the american society. I can't think of better words to discribe the essence of this picture than those of James Baldwin, the negro american poet.
'You don't see me, I'm your black cat. You don't love me, I see that.'
and also:
'Okay. I'm your ... baby, 'till I get bigger!'
We, the viewer, see what happens every day in the american society (and of course in any other racist society): the black man is not seen, he simply is not there. And his white brother trys to kill him.
The story: The black man comes to get to know his white brother, but he, grimly with hate, seeks to kill him.
In the end, grinning and happy, the black man will tell the viewer why he accepts to play on the game and take the place of his dead white brother. And again, he could be saying the words of James Baldwin: 'And then, false lover, you will know, what love has managed here below.'
For me one of the best pictures I've ever seen. Inriching (if this word exists in english- sorry, I'm german.)

body-horror marvel.......2002-05-25

this is a very intriging film. it takes suspension of disbelief to a whole new level because it's two main characters - brothers deemed almost identical by those around them - are played by a skinny white man and a well built black man.
this wierdness works very well in a film centered on identity issues. white brother is rich and black brother is poor. they meet after their fathers funeral. white brother appears nervous - he appears to assume that black brother wants money. but black brother wants nothing of the sort - he just wants to meet his blood kin then go home.
white brother has many problems, and takes the opportunity to try and kill black brother and set it up as his own suicide - ie. to vanish. unfortunately, black brother survives the car bomb and is mistaken by everyone around as white brother - they look alike afterall (to everyone but the viewer) and he is covered in bandages.
as the film progresses, black brother stats to absorb the life and personality of white brother.

an interesting essay on identity which is filled with strong body-horror concepts, such as the effect our body has on our mind and the effect our surroundings can have on us. well worth the effort, especially for those who like intellectual horror but dont have the stomach for the likes of audition

People see what they want to see.......2002-05-23

I think that's a main point of the movie. The "sophisticated" white society people are ready to embrace the persona of Vincent even though he is obviously black to the viewer of the film, as white, because they believe him to be a white man. The storyline becomes more surreal and incredulous as the plastic surgeon's efforts to recreate his disfigured face result in him not looking like the picture of the white person they had as a reference, but exactly the same as the black actor looked before all the surgery. The clincher for me was hearing the plastic surgeon talk about his nose as being narrow and sophisticated, even though his nose was (to the viewer) obviously a broader nose more typical for a black man - I took this to mean that the plastic surgeon was recreating him to conform not only to the picture but to the image they had of the wealthy socialite, but that only the viewing audience is able to see his true identity, the thing most feared by the white society people - a black "boogey man" (or any man from the "wrong side of the tracks") who unbeknownst to these people is courting and ends up marrying one of their "precious" white daughters . . . very reminiscent of politically charged racial/cultural tension movies of the 1950's and 1960's like "Rebel Without A Cause" or "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" and having strong references to "Romeo and Juliet" - see "West Side Story" !

I think this theme is underscored by it having been shot in black-and-white - plus the many juxtapositions: the black and white ink blots another reviewer mentioned; on the street as the main character drives by, two identical minivans side by side, one black, one white; in the climax scene, the black actor's character is hiding behind a white shower curtain. You have to see this movie at least twice as you will be confused too long before you begin appreciating its artistry and oblique references the first time.

In a way, this movie tests the viewer as well - it says "just accept the fact that this is a black actor playing a supposedly white character", requiring the viewer to appreciate only the actor's skill, not his skin color, as one should in all questions involving race - look at the person, not the skin color. So if you are disturbed by this movie, you may have to assess your own personal beliefs. The race-bending issue reminds me of the gender-bending actor's issues in "Shakespeare In Love" which portrays a subject that was equally taboo to many people in those days, and would have been equally disturbing to audiences of the period.

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