Word: poet
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...film about a dope-dealing poet from the soul-squashing projects of Washington was a winner on the chic slopes and shores of this year's festivals. The poet-pusher is Ray Joshua, played by a scrawny charismatic named Saul Williams; and the film, Slam, arrives in theaters laden with laurels from Sundance and Cannes. Burdened, really, for this is a small movie, as vulnerable as it is volatile, about young black men in trouble. Its underworldly corrosiveness can't hide a heart full of hope...
...relationship between schoolteacher Mary Letourneau, now 36, and her "victim," Vili Fualaau, now 15, hit the bookstores in Paris last week. The book portrays a couple who, while fond of each other, had very different views on several issues, including the source of their attraction (She: "He is... a poet capable of lyricism, an artist full of spirit and talent"; He: "I was 12 years old and I had never f___ed anyone... I wanted to... see what it was like"); whom their relationship might affect (She: "They never told me, never, that I could never see my children again...
...realization that he wants out of the game. Released on bail while awaiting his trial, he wrestles with his feelings of anger and bitterness and fear for his future. Oh...and he falls in love. And he averts a gang war. And he launches his career as a freestyle/spoken-word poet...
This responsibility is required of Ray, and it is his struggle that defines both his character and the film. Fortunately, he is helped in this struggle by Lauren Bell (played by Sonja Sohn, also a novice at film). A prison English teacher and poet herself, Laruen hears Ray perform while in jail, in a remarkable scene where he averts a gang fight by performing a poem he wrote which challenges the direction of their aggression towards each other. Once out on bail, Ray seeks her out, and they develop a relationship which, although slightly stretching the notion of love...
...nature of the directing, we observe him more as a real person than an actor, and he commands an undeniable presence on the screen, whether freestyling with kids from the neighborhood or leading his blind friend down the street. More importantly, Williams is a phenomenally gifted poet; all of the lyrics he drops in this film are his own. Combining references from the Bible, the stars and Public Enemy (to name but three), he represents one of the major talents in spoken-word poetry today. Look to him for direction in the future evolution...