Quietly devastating yet ultimately hopeful, this naturalistic documentary tells its story without heavy-handed narration or even talking head sound bites. The trailer below is a must watch.
The details are revealed rather gradually, but it’s not a spoiler to say that George Anthony Morton spent ten years in federal prison for dealing drugs. Basically his entire 20s.
But when he got out he used his undeniable skills as a classical painter to get into the most prestigious art school in America. The film begins in Atlanta, where he lives and works. Portraits, mostly, but also recreations of the Dutch Masters, of whom he is a devoted fan.
If you have a certain “type” in your mind about someone who was a dealer in the hood and went to prison, Morton is surely not it. He is quiet, philosophical – he speaks almost like a poet. His words carry weight and meaning. He didn’t waste that decade in prison.
He realizes that many paths in his life were almost inevitable, and the film doesn’t shy away from systemic racial realities. But he is living proof that one can break free from the cyclical nature of addiction, offending, incarceration and repeat.
Now, he is on a journey back to his hometown of Kansas City, where he tries to heal the broken relationship with his mother and paint family members in the style of the Dutch Old Masters. Going back home forces George to face his past in his quest to rewrite the script of his life and discover the contribution of African influences to the realist tradition.
As he paints and talks and works his way through the old neighborhood, he realizes how his mother’s issues led to his own – in more ways than one. Did she have an active hand in his prison sentence? That is explored.
In the end, it’s a thoughtful character study of real life people and how some get over the metaphorical wall and escape, while others are tragically doomed to stay locked inside lives that are hard enough without adding lengthy arrest records to their circumstances.
Master of Light is currently streaming on HBO Max
