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.