25th Hour-One Day in the Life of Monty Brogan
Print
/** Spoiler Alert
You have one single day to be free on earth, or 24 hours more exactly, after which you would be behind the bars , so what do you do?
Well i know this sounds like one of the questions you get in a psychological test, where you are given a what if scenario, and your reply would assess what kinda person you were, supposedly. For Monty Brogan( Ed Norton), however the question has very little to do with his character assessment, it is a question that could actually decide his life over the next 24 hours. We see Monty in the opening shot of the movie, as he stops his car, to tend to an injured pit bull. His friend, a heavy set looking Ukrainian, Kostya Novotny, wonders whether it’s worth spending time, when more pressing issues beckon ahead. Kostya’s anxiety to avoid the cops, hints at the criminal activities the duo are involved in. Monty however is more concerned with the dog, much to Kostya’s chagrin, and his primary aim is to get the dog treated at a vet. The opening scene, establishes both Monty and Kostya, both on the wrong side of the law, one cool and composed, the other fidgety and nervous. As the car speeds away with the dog, the camera slowly zooms in to The Tribute in Light, at Ground Zero, a montage of the massive spotlights, shooting their beams upwards, glowing bright, creating a haunting visual imagery. The lights glow in the sky, as the opening credits flash over the screen to the haunting background score of Terence Blanchard.
Spike Lee’s The 25th Hour, could have as well been sub titled One Day in the Life of Monty Brogan, dealing as it is with the character’s last 24 hours as a free person. We come to know that Monty has been a former drug dealer, who has just one day to live his life as a free person, before he goes behind the bars for a long time. It is the one day where Monty has to brood over what happened, Spike Lee, beautifully setting it up, right after the opening credits, when he is musing, in a park along with his pit bull. It is the one day for Monty to deal with his friends, Jacob Ellinsky( Philip Seymour Hoffman), an English teacher at the very same high school, where he had studied. And Frank Slaughtery( Barry Pepper), a successful hot shot Wall Street trader, both of whom he had invited for a last meet at one of their favorite clubs. And there is his faithful Puerto Rican girl friend Naturelle Riveira( Rosario Dawson), whom he suspects of having ratted about him to the Feds. And most important of all his own father James Brogan( Brian Cox), who feels he has been guilty of turning a blind eye to his son’s activities, and blames himself for Monty’s current plight.
The scene where Monty meets his father, is what begins to set things into perspective. Spike Lee builds up to the sequence beautifully. Monty encountering two kids in the subway, getting into a small game of shooting coins with them, and then encountering one of his older friends Trey in the train, feeling uncomfortable, and then rushing out. One moment standing out here, when Trey’s wife asks him about Monty, and he tells her about how he was thrown out of school for drugs.
You can take the kid out of Bensonhurst, but you can’t take the Bensonhurst out of the kid.
Reference here to Monty’s neighborhood, one of the more notorious ones in New York. In another scene, where Monty is having a bath with his girl friend, he notices a Puerto Rico flag tattoed on her leg. Something he feels uncomfortable with.
You were born in America, you lived in America your whole life, you’ve been to Puerto Rico twice, for vacation. What is that? I should get an Irish flag tattooed on my ass cause my grandparents are from there?
Again in that subway scene, when one of the kids replies back he plays soccer, Monty again he looks at him disgusted, for him basketball and baseball are the only 2 games. In small ways, i felt Spike Lee was depicting the faultlines existing in New York, both along class lines as well as racial lines. Monty’s drug dealing is blamed on his neighborhood, and he some how does not like his girl showing off her Hispanic identity. In fact one of the reasons why Monty feels she could have ratted him on to the Feds, could be that she was an illegal immigrant, one common view most average Americans have about Hispanics.
And then the encounter, with his Dad at the latter’s pub. His father feels guilty, wants to help Monty out, trying some of his old contacts. When his father tells him not to get into trouble, there is silence for a moment. You can feel the tension thick in the air, and then he bursts out
Dad? I fucked up. Okay? What else can I tell you? I fucked up.
And that’s where the best scene of the movie comes in. Monty walks into the washroom, and sees “Fuck You” scrawled on the mirror. Something breaks him in as he goes into a rant against each and every one in New York. Be it the Sikh and Pakistani taxi drivers with their run down cabs. Or the Korean grocers with their overpriced goods, who can speak no English. Or the noveau rich Russian mobsters. Or the Wall Street brokers. Or the rich females on Upper East Side. Or the Puerto Ricans. Or his friends, or his girl whom he feels betrayed him, he goes into a rant against each and every one not even sparing his own father. The movie needs to be seen for this single scene also. Ed Norton’s monologue to me would easily rank right up there with Robert De Niro’s “Some day the rain will wash away all the scum” rant in Taxi Driver. 9/11 and Enron, were the double whammy in 2001, the average American never felt so insecure about himself since Watergate and Vietnam. He needed some one to blame for it, its a fact that many White Americans, blamed immigration and multiculturalism, for 9/11. What Monty was ranting about, here were the feelings of the average American, which i feel is significant. Most of Spike Lee’s earlier movies were about race issues from a Black point of view, for the first time in his career, he was taking a look from the other side of the racial divide.
25th Hour, was one of the earliest movies shot in New York, after 9/11. And while the movie is essentially about Monty Brogan, the underlying context is about New York after 9/11. While the initial shots, of the lights at New York and then the vistas of the city, as Monty begins to reminiscence, were more of New York rising like a phoenix from the ashes, the later moments slowly bring up the fault lines that had crept in the city, along racial and class lines. While the average White American, might not have shown his racism openly, there was a hatred for the others. But the hatred is more out of his insecurity, which again reflects the average New Yorker’s feelings after 9/11, he could never actually trust the person next to him in the same way as he did before. As Monty explains to his Father later.
Everything’s gotten so strange, Dad. I wake up some mornings and it takes me a minute to remember who I am, you know? Where I’m going. Most of the people I’m with, I look at them and I think, these are my friends?
The scene where Frank and Jacob, meet at the former’s huge apartment to discuss about the impending night out with Monty is another excellent one. Jacob finding it hard to believe his old friend would be in the slammer, but then Frank feels that could be the best thing to ever happen to him. And then Frank & Jacob reminiscing about their days at school together. The dialogue between them shows the differences between the 2 characters, Jacob, bookish, unsure about himself, not really knowing the outer world, Frank, cocky, confident. Jacob still feels for Monty, wants to visit him in prison, Frank, the pragmatic, hard nosed realist, feels Monty’s life is as good as over.
The 25th Hour is a movie without a plot, rather it’s series of events in one day of Monty’s life. But it is the key dramatic sub plots, that really keeps one riveted. It’s not just Monty, each and every one has a story to tell. Jacob has a huge crush on Mary D Annunzio( Anna Paquin), a 17 year old student in his class, typical high school teen, tattoos, belly buttons, midriff showing tops, cleavage et all. And yet he can’t bring himself to seduce her, he feels it would be unethical, he does not want to be seen as the pervert. Monty is scared of going to prison, as he feels his good looks would make him a target of gang rape, he asks Frank to beat him up, so that he could look uglier. Frank for all his bravado, sobs hysterically when Monty leaves them. Monty’s father wanting to do everything to assuage his feelings of guilt, badly wanting to give Monty another life, his final speech, memorable.
The 25th Hour is about people post 9/11 in New York. It is a movie that has to be seen, as it lays bare the fault lines, the prejudices, the insecurities of the people around. Without resorting to any sugar coating or pandering to political correctness, Spike Lee examines the heart , mind and soul of New York, through men like Monty, his father, Frank, Jacob and Naturelle. And aided in the process by some exemplary acting. Philip Seymour Hoffman as the insecure Jacob, Barry Pepper as Frank, and Rosario Dawson as Naturelle, all pitching in some great performances. Brian Cox as the senior Brogan, is brilliant, wonderfully conveying the anguish of a father torn between guilt and hope for his son. And then there is Ed Norton, in a performance right up there with American History X and Fight Club, just brilliant. Be it his monologue in front of the mirror, or his insecurity at having to face the prison not one single false note in his acting.
Tags: 9/11, Best of the Noughties, Ed Norton, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Spike Lee
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Rahul Dholakia
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Varma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Sachin Kundalkar
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
@ ratnakar : awesome post bro. I loved Ed Norton and this is one of his best movies. Very under-rated, not a very popular movie and not a lot of ppl are aware of this , reasons unknown. but nevertheless, a great movie. you have touched upon on almost all the crucial scenes in this one. reading it , makes me wanna watch it one more time. Its been a while since I watched this one… will do so tonight !!! keep ‘em comin..
loading...
Bipin, yeah me too was quite unaware of this. A friend of mine, who saw this article, said this movie was playing on BBC1 last week, and he gave it a miss, as he had no idea of it. One really underrated movie.
loading...
Granted I haven’t seen that many Spike Lee movies, but this is my 2nd fav (after Do the Right Thing).
I remember having a discussion with my brother after watching this movie. He was arguing that the ‘fuck you’ monologue, although interesting, was not really relevant to the story…and I was arguing otherwise. But at that time I couldn’t articulate it that well because I had not grasped the importance given to the post-9/11 New York psyche in the film. Thanks to you, now I know exactly why I felt that epic scene made sense.
loading...
Interestingly this was the first Spike Lee movie i recall, that did not have any Black characters. In fact he seemed to take a look at post 9/11 NYC from a White perspective, quite interesting.
loading...
Ratnakar,
More subtextal observations /points to ponder for you in the 25th Hour:- Monty personifies the post 9/11 hurt/Guilt ridden side of NY. His friends personify the other two sides of NY that appear to make it tick in the eyes of the beholder. Barry Pepper is the materialisic part of NY & Philip Seymour Hoffman is the genteel/educated/creative side of the City personified.
And who said the film is without a plot? It’s based on a book which unlike most (Bollywood) films have plots, if nothing else. Fortunately,they don’t have the luxury of relying on stars, special Fx or pre-release publicity tamashas.
loading...
Well let me put it this way, the movie is more character driven, rather than plot driven. It deals with Monty’s one day as a free person, and the focus is on the interactions with the characters around him- his friends, his girl, his Dad and his ex Boss. Yeah i know the character-plot dichotomy is kinda ambiguous, but from my view point, The 25th Hour already sets up the premise early on, you know that Monty will be ending up in the slammer soon, the premise is set up early on, the focus becomes more on how he reacts with the people around him. Not that it’s an issue for me.Just my own take.
loading...
Hmm well even the final scene, where Monty’s Dad tries to give him the vision of a better world, a hopeful vision for New York, rising from the Ashes, putting 9/11 behind it. Or all those people whom Monty ranted against smiling at him, as he drives to prison, something about the city accepting it’s diversity.
loading...
Good movie but not my fav. Ed Norton flick. In the end Norton deserved what he got. I’ve no empathy for him.
loading...
Jahanpanah,
How can you make the words film and flick interchangeable? As someone who comments regualary on PFC, you should be aware of the difference in the meaning of the two words. It is this exact flippant/ignorant attitude that adds to the growing chasm/blurring lines between recognition/appreciation of sincere cinema and the utterly ridiculous flattering of KKhandani cinema that the likes of Khalid Mohd indulges in. Words have meaning.
How can you call the 25th Hour a Flick?
Is Sholay a Flick?
Is Satya a Flick?
wtf is a Flick? :banginghead:
loading...
“As someone who comments regualary on PFC”
Wow! I’m honored, first Sethu sir now me.
.
Likeness of a film is subjective. If I don’t like Sholay and do not feel it deserves the respect it gets I may casually call it a flick. I may totally discard sincere cinema and celebrate KKhandani cinema, it is upon me. People are not the same.
loading...
gosh for a minute you sounded like Rk. maa kasam!!!
loading...
Santosh Kumar T K,
Bahut yarana lagta hai.
As you must be knowing when and where you had commented on the topic(cinema), could you please forward some links of PFC posts where you have done it in the past, so that respect toward your nector filled Gyan is increased multifold. :bow:
“Maa Kasam” in such a trivial matter?
Mamla kya hai ?
loading...
Rk,
Galti meri hai, there was a smiley/winkey missing there!
Otherwise no offence meant whatsoever. All I meant was the sentence construction, the tone, the style was all remarkably yours (in that one particular sentence) and nothing else. Aapki yaad gayi 
For someone who has followed your stuff on PFC that was only an observation. Nowhere did I judge, or qualify. But before this could snowball, I thought I’d mention it. I am sorry, no offence meant at all.
Peace!
loading...
Dictionaries use “Flicks” for “Cinema”.
Maybe with the birth of slang “Chic Flicks” some people take Flicks with a derogatory meaning.
So many people are using words like War flicks, action flicks, horror flicks etc.
Cult is used in India with a very successful film also. And filmmakers themselves use this word with their very successful films.
They would say it had become a cult film.
Any new type of film is called Noir by many.
loading...
Dictionary says flick is slang for film but it is being used more currently because it is kind of hip term. Also it seems it is mainly used to categorize the films as it has been stated for war flicks, action flicks etc.
I also used the term to categorize Edward Norton movies distinctly.
loading...
Ratnakar,
Any other Spike Lee movies you would definitely recommend ? I watched both this and “Do the Right thing.” and both really blew me off for the honesty with which racism in the US is portrayed.
loading...
Check out Malcolm X, fabulous performance by Denzel Washington in the lead role. One of the few movies that takes a look at the more extreme side of Black activism, as also the relation between Black Activism and Islam.
loading...
Apart from the ones mentioned in this post
Miracle at St Anna
Summer of Sam
loading...
The Inside Man is pretty good.
loading...
Apart from the fact that EN is a good actor and has given some memorable performances it seems that his filmography is somewhere responsible for the decline in the acting career of Urmila Martondkar.
loading...
How come? It should have been Ajay Devgan. Also, average people didn’t even know about original.
loading...
She repeated a similar kind of character, who is facing psychological disturbances or who is facing too many troubles in many films which I guess harmed her career to an extent.
1-2 films are fine but continuously many films within a short span where she played an abnormal character was too much. She got acclaim for her portrayals in some of these films but ultimately she became limited to a genre based films only.
loading...
haven’t seen the movie yet… will watch it for sure… ratnakara saab … 2002 ka list kahaan hai … office mei bore ho rahaa hoon
loading...
A personal favorite. Very well written article. has a perspective and a parallel in the film’s memorable scenes. the film is special for me. it has aged beautifully, the characters, the fault lines like you said, and the approachable treatment by lee, just classic stuff. handles its humor and tears gloriously. pays an ode to the long road. respects its complexities and celebrates yet looks at life as it is with raft stare.
loading...
Guys what do you think of Radio Raheem character from Do The Right Thing?
loading...
Heyyyy bagunara man
Uv’e hit the nail right on its head. This one is Spike Lee’s best. Oh well this one and Miracle at.. We’ve talked abt Ed Norton in the past. The most underrated actor since Chuck Norris (just joking). Did you get to see Pride and Glory? same setup only this time they are cops. I remember telling you last time. Ok some movies that i saw and wanna share. I dont know how many of them have been or will be released in India but I’m sure you got your hookups man.
1 Precious
2 Brothers
3 Heartlocker
4 Sunshine Cleaning
5 Stop Loss
6 Hunting Party
7 Titanic
8 Skip the last one..just messing with you bro…keep writing
loading...
Hi Ratnakar, I saw a comment from you on one of the website about the movie 100 days. It seems you liked the movie as much as I did and since you also seems to be quite knowledgable in terms of movies, let m know in case you heard about its sequel, 101 days. Was it a real movie? I could find its songs on multiple websites but no real info about the movie. Any idea?
loading...