A Review of Goodbye Solo

Goodbye Solo (2008)is Ramin Bahrani’s attempt to show the desire for one individual to help the other and the reluctance of the next person to accept help. Solo is a cheerful cab driver who befriends a client, William. The latter is a bad-tempered and rheumy-eyed geezer whose main occupation was being Elvis’ bodyguard and a former marine. Solo is offered a hefty sum of money by William to be driven up a mountain, an action that leads the cab driver to conclude that the bodyguard has intentions of committing suicide. With little hesitance, Solo now makes it his duty to attempt to save William. The rest of the movie is about forming an unlikely bond and friendship between the two very radically different individuals. Throughout the film, racial differences emerge. The director attempts to show a subtle theme of living in exile and in diaspora, long ways from home. Solo takes William to his house where the former’s Mexican wife and stepdaughter live. He turns detective tracking William’s movements and even analysing his pills. Solo is still fixated on his American dream and wants everybody to share in with him but William is done dreaming.

In the end, the plot, performers, and director all come together to produce people that are readily sympathized. Solo epitomizes the sort of man that we all aspire to be, as a Senegalese migrant who pursues his American Dream regardless of the fact that it isn’t without flaws. His philosophy is that in everyone, there will always be something good to be found. So, assuming William fits this description, he may be the sort of person that most of us dread being: severe and reclusive. In spite of the fact that he and Solo never become “friends” in the typical buddy-movie sense, the camaraderie they develop – no matter how fragile and unpredictable it may be – proves that even complete strangers may form profound and lasting bonds.

In this film, the bonds that bind people together across borders also separate them. No matter how strong and deeply buried those lines are in the film’s portrayal of that relationship, there will be ambiguity, connections, and unpredictable outcomes. It brings together persons who seem incongruous. The film Goodbye Solo (2008) portrays genuine individuals grappling with real life issues. The filmmaker’s unique combination of comedy, sadness, and insight improved the stories. A filmmaker from Iran can take an Iranian film premise, situate it in North Carolina, and cast it with an African model and Elvis’s bodyguard, and transform it into something unique and appealing, signaling that international cinema has potential. One man has given up on life, the other is endlessly and surprisingly resilient. Their relationship reminds me of films where an alienated and sad Caucasian is redeemed from himself by a spiritually grounded Third World messenger. Who knows what happened in William’s background to get him here, or why Solo’s usually bright grin periodically sags in despair.I personally connect to the theme of forming relationships, life in diaspora, and chasing the American dream. I can see how and why Solo was very interested in making a difference. An Accented Cinema by Hamid Naficy (2001) is an interesting look at a burgeoning trend in modern cinema: the works and efforts of emerging filmmakers from the postcolonial, developing world, and other underprivileged communities who have relocated to the West. When it comes to movies, Naficy (2001) is particularly interested in how aspects of diaspora or exile are represented in the work of other artists. There are stylistic similarities among the films when it comes to their open and closed-form aesthetics, their nostalgic and memory-driven multilingual narratives, and their emphasis on political agency as well as identification and violation of identity.

The composition and execution of the film helps to bring out the emergent themes as discussed above. The shots in the cab employ close-ups and shadows to illustrate the intricate dynamic at work. The front and back seats are well separated. William’s unwillingness to engage in the driver’s ecstatic chatter reflects his wish to drift away for two weeks, closing up loose ends before his travels. Throughout the film, Bahrani keeps his camera on the faces of the performers. Therefore, the main actor can convey Solo’s increasing desperation without saying anything, while William’s sad expression, complete with wrinkles and puffy eyes, conveys plenty.

References

Bahrani, R. (Director). (2008). Goodbye Solo [Film]. Roadside Attractions, Axiom Films.

Naficy, H. (2001). An accented cinema: Exilic and diasporic filmmaking. Princeton University

Press.