User Reviews

This movie was infuriating and not for the obvious reason. The obvious reason would be the racist attitude and crippling oppression from the whites of Louisiana towards the Blacks. The less obvious reason would be the self-sacrificing white woman that aided a Black man.

For years, whenever a movie is made about Black people struggling against whites in America there always has to be a white savior. No matter where or when there has to be some nearby brave white person to save the poor Black folks from certain annihilation.

In "A Gathering of Old Men" that savior was Candy (Holly Hunter), a "brave", defiant young white woman ready to help "her people." It was the height of arrogance and patronization.

The movie started with a Black man named Charlie (Walter Breaux) running full tilt away from a rifle bearing white man on a tractor. Charlie ran for what seemed like miles before ducking into Mathu's house. Charlie's pursuer, Beau Boutan (Richard Whaley), was shot before he could fire his shotgun into Mathu's house.

At this point the super-hero savior of the oppressed Black man sprang into action. Candy heard a gunshot which would not seem too odd to me in Louisiana where everyone has guns. But, because Candy had ESP she knew that that gunshot was no ordinary gunshot--it had a murderous sound to it. She then hopped in her car and drove directly to the scene of the crime as though she could track its scent. When she arrived she saw Beau dead on the ground and Mathu (Louis Gossett Jr.) on the porch holding his shotgun. Before you know it she's barking at people giving them orders because she devised a plan to help Mathu out of the pickle he was in.

She told the young boy there to round up all of the old black men, have them grab their 12 gauge shotguns with no. 5 shells, fire one shot, and gather at Mathu's place. Her plan was to have all of the old Black men cover for Mathu because she had to protect, as she said, "my people."

You can understand "my people" how you want, but somehow I doubt she meant she had a kindred connection to them. And that was made more clear later on in the movie. As the movie moved forward and the Sheriff got involved Candy proved even more annoying. Her patronizing protection was not selfless or out of a sense of right more than it was selfish and out of a sense of protecting what she believed belonged to her. She had this vexing air about her. She barked and strutted with impunity because no harm would come to her. She was a young white woman after all, so who would harm her? A Black man or woman? They'd be punished. A white man? She could always cry and make him feel guilty. She was totally safe to act as maestro to this grand scheme she'd orchestrated so then she could step back and beam with pride at the good work she'd done.

I found myself stuck in a dour mood. It seemed like Candy was in every scene like the plight was about her and not the Black men that stood to be lynched at any moment. "A Gathering of Old Men" somewhat redeemed itself by finally pointing out the obvious. When the old Black men wanted to have a closed door meeting excluding Candy she pitched a fit. It was then that someone said, "You gon' keep them slaves all their lives is that right?" He only said what we were all thinking. All of her bossing and ordering to "protect" them came from a place of ownership, nothing more. It was at this point of the movie that my dour mood eased a bit. Fortunately, there would be no further bloodshed, though the old men were ready and sometimes being ready is enough.