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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 2013)
Februaiy 20.2013_______________ _____ Portland Observer Black History Month Page II North Portland James Chasse lying on the sidewalk after his beating by Portland police. The photo was taken by Jamie Marquez o f the Portland Mercury and is a reference m i n t in the new documentary ‘Aken Boy: The Death and Life o f James Chasse.’ beginning a five day run on Sunday. Feb. 24 at Cinema 21 Alien Boy: The Death and Life of Janies Chasse and a whimsical soul; had he not spent so ingly callous treatment he received in its much of his life battling the demons of schizo aftermath. phrenia, he might well have been a performer As someone who has a front seat to a lot or a comic book artist. of maneuvering and politics, I know how There is a surprising amount of material to difficult it can be to tell a story like this and A lth o u g h the mine that Chasse himself created, including capture its true complexity, so I was blown story was w ell- letters and drawings, artistically rendered away by how successfully the filmmakers covered by local through animation. The kindness and care accomplished that here, to devastating ef media, it is really that is evident in presenting Chasse's life is fect. more complex than could be gleaned from a painful contrast to the treatment he got from Although only one police officer would following that coverage—and of course, police, who do not even seem to have re answer questions from the filmmaker on- James Chasse was not merely a mentally ill garded him as a person. camera, there is a lot of footage from the various inquiries that followed the events, so most of the story comes directly out o f the mouths of participants and witnesses. Director Lindstrom maintains such a steady tone that all the emotions he stirs up feel really genuine, not the least bit manipu lated. It's a masterful piece of work, with relevance that extends far beyond Portland. Its five-day run at Cinema 21 begins on Sunday, Feb. 24. Darleen Ortega has been a judge on the Oregon Court o f Appeals since 2003 and is the first woman o f color to serve in that vagrant in the wrong place at the wrong tim e, As the film progresses, the focus subtly capacity. She sees two to three film s a week but rather a person w ith his ow n story. shifts to the events that led to Chasse's and has been writing about movies f o r over Lindstrom w isely focuses first on telling death. T h e film m akers (including a soulful a decade, including blogging two film festi us something about the m an, in the voices o f editor) have culled through an enormous vals and publishing a list o f the year's best those w ho loved him . It turns out there is a lot amount o f m aterial to present Chasse's initial film s. F ind h er m o vie b lo g a t o f m aterial to w o rk w ith, since he was an artist encounter w ith police and then the alarm opinionatedjudge. blogspot.com. O pinionated J udge Editor’s note: The Portland Observer this week introduces Judge Darleen Ortega to our Arts and Entertainment coverage. Ortega is a real life judge on the Oregon Court o f Appeals, and an avid movie reviewer o ff the bench. I ’m sure you will enjoy her contribu tions as our “Opinionated Judge. ’’ by J udge D arleen O rtega I am seeing so many wonderful films ! One o f the best is Alien Boy: The Death and Life o f James Chasse, which screened this month at the Portland International Film Festival and opens this week at Cinema 21. The movie is the work of Portland docu mentarían Brian Lindstrom, whose prior film, "Finding Normal" offers a thoughtful take on lifelong addicts trying to find a normal life in recovery. In A lie n B oy, Lindstrom has turned his sen sitive e ye to a c o m p le x story that Portlanders w ill think they k n o w - o f James Chasse, a gentle man w ith schizophrenia w ho was tackled by three police officers one day in the Pearl D istrict, and suffered terrible injuries including 17 broken ribs and a punc tured lung, and then died in police custody. W u1 As someone who has a front seat to a lot o f maneuvering and politics, I know how difficult it can be to tell a story like this and capture its true complexity, so I was blown away by how successfully the filmmakers accomplished that here, to devastating effect.