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.