Monday, December 27, 2021
Second-hand Japanese boats could rapidly expand Australia’s submarine force | The Strategist
Second-hand Japanese boats could rapidly expand Australia’s submarine force | The Strategist
Second-hand Japanese boats could rapidly expand Australia’s submarine force
23 Dec 2021|Bradley Perrett
Australia may have a way of very cheaply and quickly expanding its submarine force, improving its defences this decade and preparing for its planned nuclear-powered boats.
We might do this by buying good second-hand submarines from Japan. The possibility would present some problems and could in fact be unworkable, but it offers such great potential advantages that we must look hard at whether it could be achieved.
It should not be summarily dismissed as unconventional and managerially complicated.
Australia’s first nuclear submarine won’t be ready until about 2040 if it’s built in Adelaide. By importing nuclear boats, that might be brought forward to 2031 or even 2030. But that would still leave the submarine force at its current, inadequate level in the 2020s, which are looking increasingly dangerous.
We’ll also have the challenge of generating crews for the nuclear submarines, whenever they appear. The more submarines in service, even if they are diesel powered, the easier it will be to create crews.
One proposal that would address the training problem has been to buy new diesel submarines as stopgaps, ideally using a design based on the current Collins class.
This solution has three serious drawbacks. Even Collins derivatives probably couldn’t be delivered until the 2030s. Construction would be expensive and, for a small batch, highly uneconomical. And Australia would end up stuck with new submarines with a form of propulsion that it already regards as inadequate for the long term.
Second-hand Japanese submarines, by contrast, might be acquired very quickly and cheaply, and, having perhaps seven years of life left in them, wouldn’t hang around as doubtful assets into the 2060s.
The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force takes delivery of one submarine a year. For any other navy, that would imply a fleet of about 30 boats, since a submarine can typically serve for something like 30 years. But the force is not funded to operate so many and instead retires them early.
Until a few years ago, the fleet comprised 18 submarines. The number is now 23 and soon due to rise to 24, including two training boats.
The submarines we might lay our hands on are contemporaries of the Collins class, the Oyashio class, commissioned between 1998 and 2008.
Their surface displacement is 2,800 tonnes, compared with 3,100 tonnes for the Collins class. Their endurance and range are probably adequate for Australian missions. Their silencing and sensor performance are unlikely to be second-rate, but their crew size is largish at 70.
Oyashios in Australian service would be used closer to home than the long-range Collins class. They could cover the archipelagic straits of the approaches to our continent and help deal with targets that got through. All Collins boats would then be available for more distant missions.
Japan has already demoted the two oldest Oyashios to training roles, modifying them accordingly. Nine more remain in frontline service, still with full combat capability and each seemingly destined for retirement at age 23.
These include seven confirmed in 2018 as refitted to give them longer lives than originally planned and to bring them to almost the technology standard of the later Soryu class, itself once a candidate to replace the Collins boats. The other two front-line Oyashios have presumably been similarly refitted since then.
Since Japan’s submarine fleet still needs to expand by one, we should assume the country won’t decommission an Oyashio in 2022 as it takes delivery of a new vessel. Instead, the oldest frontline boat of the class, the Uzushio, may become available in 2023.
Australia could ask Japan for the Uzushio and the other eight frontline Oyashios as they leave service at yearly intervals. The purchase price shouldn’t be much above scrap value.
Japan would be delighted by the closer defence relationship, and it would get business in supporting the vessels.
Many countries operate high-quality second-hand warships, often bought from the US or UK. Australia has done so many times, and it has lately sold two capable upgraded frigates to Chile.
The Australian collection of Oyashio-class boats would reach seven in 2029 and remain at that level until 2031, assuming, roughly, that their age limit is 30. After that period, the number would decline by one a year—conveniently in step with a feasible schedule for arrival of imported nuclear boats. One in, one out.
Notice that with this proposal Australia could have 13 diesel submarines in service 25 years earlier than it was planning to have 12 under the cancelled Attack-class contract.
Mission availability of second-hand Oyashios might be better than that of the Collins class, because they would never go into the two-year major refits the Collins boats will undertake.
Supporting a completely unique class of vessels might look like an unattractive proposition, but it wouldn’t be impossible: the Collins-class boats are similarly full of systems and weapons not found elsewhere in the navy.
The support problem could be enormously reduced by relying as far as possible on Japan’s mature maintenance establishment for these submarines. Whenever necessary, they would be sent back to Japan for work. Keeping them in the hands of engineers and technicians who have long familiarity with them would greatly improve our confidence in prolonged operation.
Doing so should also be highly economical. Australia wouldn’t pay for plant and training to create elaborate domestic support infrastructure. For minor maintenance, Japanese shipbuilders and system suppliers could help by stationing people in Australia.
Japan would surely be a reliable partner for Australia in this. The two countries have the same strategic problem: China.
The big unknown in this proposal is how hard it would be to keep the Japanese submarines serving beyond 23 years.
Their physical condition upon retirement from the Japanese navy shouldn’t be a problem. Consider the Japanese reputation for excellent production and maintenance of physical articles. In 2016 then-ambassador Sumio Kusaka wrote that, by applying the Japanese maintenance routine, Australia could operate Soryu-class submarines for ‘a long period of time’.
Still, the Oyashios’ current maintenance timetable is presumably phased so that each submarine is due for more work at the point of retirement. Each boat might therefore need a routine refit before commissioning into the Royal Australian Navy.
The potential showstopper is whether old electronics and software could be supported to age 30. That would depend in part on the depth of the modernisation the boats have had. Problems in this respect might be addressed with a little more updating, the cost of which should still make these submarines a bargain.
To get started with operations, we could ask Japan to lend a complete crew. Needing adequate English, these people would train Australians and gradually go home as the locals became familiar with how to operate the boats. Since the Japanese navy has so many submarines, it should be able to conjure up one more crew without too much difficulty.
Manuals would have to be translated to English, but display text of electronic systems would not, since such fiddling would be an unnecessary complication.
The idea of Australian sailors looking at, for example, combat-system menus written in Japanese may seem challenging, but members of armed services all over the world have to learn enough English to operate imported equipment. There’s no reason why Australian sailors shouldn’t be able to learn a little Japanese.
With Oyashios arriving annually from 2023, time available for training would be short. But the delivery timeframe is so attractively quick that slowish achievement of operational capability would be acceptable.
The government should urgently examine this possibility. And it should insist that the navy and Department of Defence look not just for problems in operating second-hand Japanese submarines but also for solutions.
Second-hand Japanese boats could rapidly expand Australia’s submarine force
23 Dec 2021|Bradley Perrett
Australia may have a way of very cheaply and quickly expanding its submarine force, improving its defences this decade and preparing for its planned nuclear-powered boats.
We might do this by buying good second-hand submarines from Japan. The possibility would present some problems and could in fact be unworkable, but it offers such great potential advantages that we must look hard at whether it could be achieved.
It should not be summarily dismissed as unconventional and managerially complicated.
Australia’s first nuclear submarine won’t be ready until about 2040 if it’s built in Adelaide. By importing nuclear boats, that might be brought forward to 2031 or even 2030. But that would still leave the submarine force at its current, inadequate level in the 2020s, which are looking increasingly dangerous.
We’ll also have the challenge of generating crews for the nuclear submarines, whenever they appear. The more submarines in service, even if they are diesel powered, the easier it will be to create crews.
One proposal that would address the training problem has been to buy new diesel submarines as stopgaps, ideally using a design based on the current Collins class.
This solution has three serious drawbacks. Even Collins derivatives probably couldn’t be delivered until the 2030s. Construction would be expensive and, for a small batch, highly uneconomical. And Australia would end up stuck with new submarines with a form of propulsion that it already regards as inadequate for the long term.
Second-hand Japanese submarines, by contrast, might be acquired very quickly and cheaply, and, having perhaps seven years of life left in them, wouldn’t hang around as doubtful assets into the 2060s.
The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force takes delivery of one submarine a year. For any other navy, that would imply a fleet of about 30 boats, since a submarine can typically serve for something like 30 years. But the force is not funded to operate so many and instead retires them early.
Until a few years ago, the fleet comprised 18 submarines. The number is now 23 and soon due to rise to 24, including two training boats.
The submarines we might lay our hands on are contemporaries of the Collins class, the Oyashio class, commissioned between 1998 and 2008.
Their surface displacement is 2,800 tonnes, compared with 3,100 tonnes for the Collins class. Their endurance and range are probably adequate for Australian missions. Their silencing and sensor performance are unlikely to be second-rate, but their crew size is largish at 70.
Oyashios in Australian service would be used closer to home than the long-range Collins class. They could cover the archipelagic straits of the approaches to our continent and help deal with targets that got through. All Collins boats would then be available for more distant missions.
Japan has already demoted the two oldest Oyashios to training roles, modifying them accordingly. Nine more remain in frontline service, still with full combat capability and each seemingly destined for retirement at age 23.
These include seven confirmed in 2018 as refitted to give them longer lives than originally planned and to bring them to almost the technology standard of the later Soryu class, itself once a candidate to replace the Collins boats. The other two front-line Oyashios have presumably been similarly refitted since then.
Since Japan’s submarine fleet still needs to expand by one, we should assume the country won’t decommission an Oyashio in 2022 as it takes delivery of a new vessel. Instead, the oldest frontline boat of the class, the Uzushio, may become available in 2023.
Australia could ask Japan for the Uzushio and the other eight frontline Oyashios as they leave service at yearly intervals. The purchase price shouldn’t be much above scrap value.
Japan would be delighted by the closer defence relationship, and it would get business in supporting the vessels.
Many countries operate high-quality second-hand warships, often bought from the US or UK. Australia has done so many times, and it has lately sold two capable upgraded frigates to Chile.
The Australian collection of Oyashio-class boats would reach seven in 2029 and remain at that level until 2031, assuming, roughly, that their age limit is 30. After that period, the number would decline by one a year—conveniently in step with a feasible schedule for arrival of imported nuclear boats. One in, one out.
Notice that with this proposal Australia could have 13 diesel submarines in service 25 years earlier than it was planning to have 12 under the cancelled Attack-class contract.
Mission availability of second-hand Oyashios might be better than that of the Collins class, because they would never go into the two-year major refits the Collins boats will undertake.
Supporting a completely unique class of vessels might look like an unattractive proposition, but it wouldn’t be impossible: the Collins-class boats are similarly full of systems and weapons not found elsewhere in the navy.
The support problem could be enormously reduced by relying as far as possible on Japan’s mature maintenance establishment for these submarines. Whenever necessary, they would be sent back to Japan for work. Keeping them in the hands of engineers and technicians who have long familiarity with them would greatly improve our confidence in prolonged operation.
Doing so should also be highly economical. Australia wouldn’t pay for plant and training to create elaborate domestic support infrastructure. For minor maintenance, Japanese shipbuilders and system suppliers could help by stationing people in Australia.
Japan would surely be a reliable partner for Australia in this. The two countries have the same strategic problem: China.
The big unknown in this proposal is how hard it would be to keep the Japanese submarines serving beyond 23 years.
Their physical condition upon retirement from the Japanese navy shouldn’t be a problem. Consider the Japanese reputation for excellent production and maintenance of physical articles. In 2016 then-ambassador Sumio Kusaka wrote that, by applying the Japanese maintenance routine, Australia could operate Soryu-class submarines for ‘a long period of time’.
Still, the Oyashios’ current maintenance timetable is presumably phased so that each submarine is due for more work at the point of retirement. Each boat might therefore need a routine refit before commissioning into the Royal Australian Navy.
The potential showstopper is whether old electronics and software could be supported to age 30. That would depend in part on the depth of the modernisation the boats have had. Problems in this respect might be addressed with a little more updating, the cost of which should still make these submarines a bargain.
To get started with operations, we could ask Japan to lend a complete crew. Needing adequate English, these people would train Australians and gradually go home as the locals became familiar with how to operate the boats. Since the Japanese navy has so many submarines, it should be able to conjure up one more crew without too much difficulty.
Manuals would have to be translated to English, but display text of electronic systems would not, since such fiddling would be an unnecessary complication.
The idea of Australian sailors looking at, for example, combat-system menus written in Japanese may seem challenging, but members of armed services all over the world have to learn enough English to operate imported equipment. There’s no reason why Australian sailors shouldn’t be able to learn a little Japanese.
With Oyashios arriving annually from 2023, time available for training would be short. But the delivery timeframe is so attractively quick that slowish achievement of operational capability would be acceptable.
The government should urgently examine this possibility. And it should insist that the navy and Department of Defence look not just for problems in operating second-hand Japanese submarines but also for solutions.
Sunday, December 26, 2021
Native Speaker (novel) - Wikipedia
Native Speaker (novel) - Wikipedia
Native Speaker (novel)
 | |
| Author | Chang-Rae Lee |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | Berkley Books |
Publication date | 1995 |
| Media type | Print (paperback) |
| Pages | 368 pp (first edition, paperback) |
| ISBN | 978-1573225311 |
| OCLC | 38863471 |
Native Speaker (1995) is the first novel by Korean-American author Chang-Rae Lee. It explores the life of a man named Henry Park who tries to assimilate into American society.
Synopsis[edit]
Plot[edit]
Henry Park, a young Korean-American "spook" for Dennis Hoagland, is
- assigned to infiltrate the camp of John Kwang, a Korean-American politician running for mayor of New York City.
- Henry struggles with the recent separation from his white wife, Lelia, due to the premature death of their son Mitt.
- Further, he develops a keen double consciousness, knowing that his actions will cause the ruin of a fellow Korean-American, and tarnish an exemplar of success for members of a "model minority" in America.
Characters[edit]
- Henry Park: An industrial spy who is assigned to be on John Kwang's pre-campaign team. His Korean name is Byong-ho.
- Lelia Park: Henry's estranged wife who is a speech therapist from a wealthy, Scottish-American East Coast family. She met Henry at a party during one of his initial assignments.
- Mitt Park : Henry and Lelia’s son who died at the age of seven.
- John Kwang: A Korean-American politician running for Mayor of New York who becomes a surrogate father to Henry.
- Emile Luzan: A Filipino-American therapist whom Henry spied on but ended up befriending. He helped Henry recover from Mitt's death.
- Sherrie Chin-Watt: John Kwang's PR assistant. Married to a European-American banker, but having an affair with Kwang.
- Mr Park: Henry's father, a strict man who was once an industrial engineer in Korea.
- Mrs Park: Henry's mother who died from cancer when Henry was ten.
- Dennis Hoagland: Henry's boss.
- Maid (Ahjuma): A young Korean woman who took care of Henry as a child.
- May: John's wife whom he met when she came from Korea.
- Sophie: Jack's Italian-American wife.
- Jack: Henry's best friend and coworker who is a Greek-American.
- Janice Pawlowsky: Henry's manager of John Kwang.
- Eduardo Fermin: A Latino man who idolizes John Kwang. He dies during a fire at Kwang's campaign headquarters. He's also a spy for Hoagland's spy firm, but John Kwang thinks he works for mayor De La Roos's reelection campaign.
- Pete Ichibata: A Japanese co-worker known for crude jokes and excessive drinking.
- John Kwang Jr: John's and May's son and Peter's brother troubled with school who reminded Henry of his son Mitt
- Peter Kwang: John Jr's brother and son of John and May
- Lelia's parents: Henry's in laws and Mitt's grandparents
- Molly: Lelia's friend and an artist. During Henry and Lelia's separation, Lelia stays in Molly's apartment.
Major themes[edit]
Henry is the quintessential Korean-American, as much of his Korean heritage resonates through his voice, personality, and beliefs. His Korean upbringing still shows up in his adult life. Like many American immigrants trying to find an identity in a foreign land, Henry is an "...emotional alien...stranger [and] follower..." who constantly feels isolated from the country in which he lives and also the country from which he came.
Even though he is American, Henry Park feels a constant alienation and sense of isolation. There are many challenges that come with fitting into American life because of the difference in culture, beliefs, behavior; and because of the desire to still hold on to one's heritage.[1]
Awards and nominations[edit]
- PEN/Hemingway Award for Best First Novel
- Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award
- American Book Award
- QPB New Visions Award
- Oregon Book Award
- ALA Notable Book
References[edit]
- ^ "Native Speaker by Chang-rae Lee". Penguin Books USA. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
My Year Abroad: Chang-rae Lee with Paul Yoon | The New York Public Library
My Year Abroad: Chang-rae Lee with Paul Yoon | The New York Public Library
LIVE from NYPL:My Year Abroad: Chang-rae Lee with Paul Yoon
Event Details
The award-winning author discusses crossing boundaries in his new novel.
Chang-rae Lee has been called one of the "20 Writers for the 21st Century." In his new novel, an American college student's life is turned sideways by a frenzied year-long trip across Asia led by a creative and wild Chinese American entrepreneur. As Lee alternates between the mind-boggling year, and the impacts of its aftermath, he explores the effects of cultural immersion, Western stereotypes, Eastern attitudes, global trade, mental health, parenthood, and more.
Lee will discuss his new novel and its explorations of our human capacities for pleasure, pain, and connection. Joining him in conversation will be writer Paul Yoon.
LIVE from NYPL is made possible by the support of Library patrons and friends, as well as by the continuing generosity of Celeste Bartos, Mahnaz Ispahani Bartos and Adam Bartos, and the Margaret and Herman Sokol Public Education Endowment Fund.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Chang-rae Lee is the author of Native Speaker, winner of the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for first fiction, as well as On Such a Full Sea, A Gesture Life, Aloft, and The Surrendered, winner of the Dayton Peace Prize and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Chang-rae teaches writing at Stanford University.
Paul Yoon is the author of two story collections, Once the Shore, which was a New York Times Notable Book, and The Mountain, which was a NPR Best Book of the Year. His novels include Run Me to Earth and Snow Hunters, which won the Young Lions Fiction Award. A recipient of fellowships from The New York Public Library's Cullman Center for Writers and Scholars and the National Endowment for the Arts, he lives in Sanford, Florida, with his wife, the fiction writer Laura van den Berg, and their dog, Oscar.
GET THE BOOK
If you have a NYPL library card—or live in New York state and want to apply for one now—you can borrow My Year Abroad for free with our e-reader app SimplyE, available for iOS and Android devices. The title is available in accessible formats for community members who do not use standard print. Find out more at: nypl.org/talkingbooks. You can also request this book, and more, for pickup at one of our Grab & Go locations.
Readers everywhere who wish to purchase copies of My Year Abroad can do so at The New York Public Library Shop. Proceeds benefit the New York Public Library.
RECOMMENDED READING
Check out other titles by Chang-rae Lee and Paul Yoon:
- Aloft by Chang-rae Lee (catalog: ebook, audiobook; talking book; Bookshare)
- A Gesture Life by Chang-rae Lee (catalog: hardcopy, audiobook; talking book; Bookshare)
- Native Speaker by Chang-rae Lee (catalog: hardcopy, ebook; talking book; Bookshare)
- On Such a Full Sea by Chang-rae Lee (catalog: hardcopy, ebook, audiobook; talking book; Bookshare)
- The Surrendered by Chang-rae Lee (catalog: hardcopy, ebook; talking book; Bookshare)
- The Mountain by Paul Yoon (catalog: hardcopy, ebook, audiobook; Bookshare)
- Once the Shore by Paul Yoon (catalog: hardcopy, ebook; Bookshare)
- Run Me To Earth by Paul Yoon (catalog: hardcopy, ebook, audiobook; talking book; Bookshare)
- Snow Hunters by Paul Yoon (catalog: hardcopy, ebook, audiobook; Bookshare)
Chang-Rae Lee on Native Speaker - The John Adams Institute
Chang-Rae Lee on Native Speaker - The John Adams Institute - YouTube
Chang-Rae Lee on Native Speaker - The John Adams Institute
2,830 views
Aug 8, 2017
The John Adams Institute6.4K subscribers
SUBSCRIBE
On December 28, 2002, The John Adams Institute, in co-operation with Ambo Anthos Publishing House, was delighted to present an evening with Korean-born, U.S. raised Chang-rae Lee. He spoke about his first novel Native Speaker, which appeared in Dutch translation in February of that year.
Chang-Rae Lee on Native Speaker - The John Adams Institute
2,830 views
Aug 8, 2017
The John Adams Institute6.4K subscribers
SUBSCRIBE
On December 28, 2002, The John Adams Institute, in co-operation with Ambo Anthos Publishing House, was delighted to present an evening with Korean-born, U.S. raised Chang-rae Lee. He spoke about his first novel Native Speaker, which appeared in Dutch translation in February of that year.
Native Speaker (Moedertaal) received five major awards, including the Hemingway Foundation/PEN and the American Book Award (1995).
Bas Heijne, writer and essayist for the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad, introduced Chang-rae Lee and moderated questions from the audience.
Native Speaker is a moving insight into the Asian immigrant experience in America, told through the story of Henry Park, a Korean-American industrial spy who is asked to investigate the campaign of a rising politician. His assignment challenges his loyalties, his relationship with his wife and his beliefs, in a tale of exile and identity which has placed Lee firmly on the level of other Asian-American writers like Amy Tan and Gish Jen.
---
Cultural identity is further explored in Lee’s book, A Gesture Life (1999), which was translated in Dutch as Een leven van gebaren in 2000 by Ambo Anthos Publishing House. This novel explores the life of the perpetual outsider, in the story of an ageing Korean man who has spent his life trying to fit in – first in the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II, and later as a businessman in America. In addition to his two novels, Chang-rae Lee (Seoul, 1965) he has also written Aloft (2004), The Surrendered (2010), and On Such a Full Sea (2014). He currently teaches at Princeton University.
Passing (film) - Wikipedia
Passing (film) - Wikipedia
Passing (film)
| Passing | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Promotional release poster | |
| Directed by | Rebecca Hall |
| Screenplay by | Rebecca Hall |
| Based on | Passing by Nella Larsen |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Eduard Grau |
| Edited by | Sabine Hoffman |
| Music by | Devonte Hynes |
Production companies |
|
| Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
|
Running time | 99 minutes[1] |
| Countries |
|
| Language | English |
| Budget | $10 million |
Passing is a 2021 black-and-white drama film written, produced, and directed by Rebecca Hall in her feature directorial debut. The film is based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Nella Larsen, and its title refers to African-Americans who had skin color light enough to be perceived as white, referred to as "passing."[2] The film stars Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga, André Holland, Bill Camp, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Antoinette Crowe-Legacy, and Alexander Skarsgård.
The film had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 30, 2021 and began a limited theatrical release on October 27, 2021, prior to streaming on Netflix on November 10. It received acclaim from critics, who praised Hall's screenplay and direction, and performances of Thompson and Negga. The film was named one of the top ten films of 2021 by the African American Film Critics Association.[3] For her performance, Negga was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Plot[edit]
Irene Redfield, a light-skinned Black woman living in Harlem, meets a childhood friend, Clare Bellew, by chance at a hotel in New York City. While Irene is African-American and is married to a Black doctor, Clare "passes" as white and has married a wealthy white man from Chicago.
Clare invites Irene back to the hotel where she is staying with her husband, John, on his business trip. Clare explains that after her father died, she was raised by two white aunts and married John very young. They are interrupted by John, who openly despises and degrades African-Americans, unaware of his wife's racial background or that Irene is "passing" for the day. Despite this initial awkward encounter, Clare reaches out to Irene to renew their friendship. After a delay, Irene accepts.
As the two women reconnect, they become increasingly involved in each other's lives and insecurities. Clare admits that she misses the African-American background she has had to repress around John, and Irene invites her out to a jazz club with her own husband, Brian, and their friend Hugh. Hugh is unimpressed, but Irene notices obvious chemistry between Clare and Brian. They also discuss their past, and Clare insists that she was jealous of Irene's dependable and moral attitude, while Irene herself envied Clare's vivacious and free-spirited personality.
Clare admits she is not like Irene, because she would do whatever it takes to get what she wants, even if it means hurting others. Meanwhile, Irene and Brian argue over how to parent their sons regarding racial issues, and Irene notices that Brian and Clare are becoming close to the point where her own sons are more excited to see Clare. After Irene stays home with the children so Brian can play bridge with Clare, and he later defends Clare from a comment by Hugh, she becomes paranoid that they are having an affair, culminating in a fight between her and Brian.
Irene attempts to cut off contact with Clare, but Brian foils this by inviting Clare to a tea party for Hugh. Irene drinks heavily and accidentally shatters an heirloom teapot after seeing Brian and Clare speaking intimately, while Hugh protects her in front of the guests. Irene waits anxiously for Clare to return to her husband John and leave the city, but she continues to stay around Irene. When out shopping with her friend Felise, who does not pass as white, Irene encounters John, and hurries away as he begins to realize the truth about his wife's racial background. Though Irene tries to warn Clare, she declines.
As the three leave to attend a party, Irene asks Clare what she would do if John ever learns the truth. When she replies she would move back to Harlem permanently, Irene becomes unnerved and is silent for most of the evening. When she opens a window to smoke, she hears John angrily force himself into the party. As a calm Clare moves to join Irene, John bursts in and furiously declares her a liar. He lunges toward Clare as Irene puts an arm between them across Clare's pelvis. Just before John reaches her, Clare falls out of the window to her death. The audience are left to wonder whether John pushes Clare from the window in his rage, whether Clare commits suicide, or whether it is Irene who actually pushes Clare.[4]
After some hesitation, Irene slowly goes downstairs to where the other guests are speaking with the police. Upon being questioned, Irene insists that Clare's fall was an accident.
Cast[edit]
- Tessa Thompson as Irene “Reenie” Redfield
- Ruth Negga as Clare Bellew
- André Holland as Brian Redfield
- Bill Camp as Hugh Wentworth
- Alexander Skarsgård as John Bellew
- Gbenga Akinnagbe as Dave Freedland
- Antoinette Crowe-Legacy as Felise
- Ashley Ware Jenkins as Zu
Production[edit]
It was announced in August 2018 that Rebecca Hall would be making her directorial debut on the adaptation of the Nella Larsen novel, with Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga set to star in the lead roles.[5] Hall had begun writing the film a decade earlier upon reflecting on her own family's history. When Hall presented her with a script version, Negga decided to collaborate in making it into a film as Negga was surprised the work was not more prominent, after having read the novel and was "completely astounded" by it.[6] Thompson stated that the film would be shot in black and white.[7] André Holland was cast in October 2019.[8] In November 2019, Alexander Skarsgård joined the cast of the film.[9]
With less than a month to go before filming production was set to begin, Hall was still $500,000 short on her desired $10 million budget, and had to apply for two grants to cover the difference.[10] Filming began in November 2019 in New York City.[11] The film is in monochrome. Benjamin Lee of The Guardian praised the use of a 4:3 aspect ratio as in this film it was "both fitting and practical given a smaller budget".[12] Into the third week of filming, the Hugh Wentworth role, originally intended for Benedict Cumberbatch, remained uncast, and budgetary realities and the tight filming timeline meant the production would need an actor who lived in New York. On November 21, Bill Camp signed on, and filming wrapped in December after a 23-day shoot.[10]
Release[edit]
Passing had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 30, 2021.[13] Shortly after, Netflix acquired distribution rights to the film for around $15 million.[14] It also screened at the New York Film Festival on October 3, 2021.[15][16] The film had a limited theatrical release on October 27, 2021, prior to streaming on Netflix on November 10.[17]
According to Samba TV, the film was watched in 653,000 households over its first three days of release.[18]
Critical response[edit]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 90% of 226 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "While Passing's delicate approach has a dampening effect on its story, debuting director Rebecca Hall makes the most of an impressive cast — and handles thorny themes with impressive dexterity."[19] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 85 out of 100 based on 46 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[20]
Jessica Kiang of Variety wrote that the film is "unerring, deceptively delicate, quiet and immaculate, like that final fall of snow."[2]
Benjamin Lee of The Guardian ranked the film two of five stars, arguing that it had "disappointing lack of verve" and was "inert".[12] Both Peter Bradshaw and Simran Hans, who write for The Guardian, gave the film four out of five stars.[citation needed]
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