Daniel Petrie Sr.: Film Analysis

Both movies are a fantastic representation of the play written by Lorraine Hansberry. I enjoyed watching both movies but for me, the 1961 movie, directed by Daniel Petrie Sr. was a work well done. The apartment look in the movie serves as a reminder of its theatrical roots and depicts the lifestyle of the family as well. The characters were the visual representation of the ones in play. Walter Lee, played by Sidney Poitier, is shown to be full of dreams and passion about running his own liquor store. He is shown to be tired of working as a chauffeur and dreams big to get his family out of poverty and give his son a better lifestyle. He is different from all the other family members. His priority is to find a solution to their growing financial crisis while Beneatha, on the
other hand, believes that she can be anything she wants and is pursuing a medical career. He tries to persuade “Mama”, brilliantly played by Claudia McNeil, to give him the insurance money to invest in the liquor store. She is religious, maternal and has strong moral values. I think Claudia was the most important character and figure throughout the whole movie. She is extremely charismatic and her willingness to keep the family together and to take care of Beneatha’s (played by Diana Sands) college tuition tells us that she is the head of the family. At times, we can see that her tone and dialogue delivery is commanding, which serves as a proof that she is the head. Ruth (played by Ruby Dee) is portrayed to be tired of her lifestyle. She wants a better Siddiqi 2 future for her family but her vision is different than that of Walter. She has a lot of clashes with Walter. Walter wants Ruth to talk with his Mama about giving him the insurance money while Ruth believes that the money belongs to Mama and she can do whatever he wants. I felt Ruth’s character is very supportive. She tries her best to accommodate everyone in her family. She is in a continuous struggle to talk with Walter and sort things out but Walter has “bigger” plans. Beneatha’s character is that of a typical teenager. She is blunt and straight forward, indecisive of her relationship with George and Agasai. Overall, I think every single character in the movie has done a good job representing their respective characters from the play. Daniel Petrie Sr. vision to direct this movie was to keep it simple while giving it the most realistic look. He made sure that the movie follows the same pattern of the events as in the play.
Contrary to the 1961 movie, the 2008 version of the movie is directed by Kenny Leon.
I personally think that the characters did not portray the exact image as those in the play. Walter Lee Younger, played by Sean Combs, is a young man, looking to solve his family problems by starting his own business of a liquor store. His plan is dependent on the insurance money his Mama (played by Phylicia Rashad) is to receive. His body language is not as passionate as we saw in the 1961 version of the movie. He seems immature as compared to Sidney Poitier. The main character is still Lena Younger, trying to keep her family together by getting a new house. Lena is opposed to the liquor store business idea and believes that house is something more important than opening a liquor store in the neighborhood. I just felt that Sean Combs is not as charismatic as Claudia McNeil. She seemed more soft and does not portray that “head of the family” thing. She has a very strong bond with Ruth (played by Audra McDonald) and they both are more like friends in contrast to mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Ruth’s character tries so hard to be supportive of Walter. She has some clashes which she wants to fix by
communicating Siddiqi 2 but she finds it really difficult to understand Walter. Walter, on the other side, is more like a dreamer. He wants to be the big man, making good money but his plan is more venturous. Which is why he seems distressed and his attitude is unpleasant throughout the movie.
Beneatha is a typical college girl, enjoying her college life. She wants to do something good for her family as well but her vision to fix the family problems is to get her education first. She is indecisive of her relationship with two boys, George Murchison and Asagai. George is a rich young guy while Asagai is from Nigeria, very proud of his cultural heritage.
Overall, I liked the 1961 version better because I felt it was a better package in terms of the plot, characters and acting but the later version is also a masterpiece and a job well done.