The Learning Tree Blu-ray Review
Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, May 18, 2022
Some of the supplements included on this disc understandably get into the history of blacks in America in general and in show business in particular,
and the
salient point is made that Gordon Parks probably never could have made
The Learning Tree much before its actual production year of circa
1969, even if Parks' original novel had appeared several years earlier. As is discussed in these bonus features, while black performers had started
making headway in front of the camera, as evidenced by Sidney Poitier's 1967 trifecta of
In the Heat of the Night,
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, and
To
Sir,
with Love, behind the scenes artisans often found themselves unable to proceed. Even some decidedly "black centric" films from this
general era like another classic starring Poitier,
A Raisin in the
Sun, often opted for white directors, perhaps out of a perceived necessity. Gordon Parks had already "proven" himself (as if that would be
deemed necessary, which it may well have been given the general tenor of the times) as a photographer for such notable publications as
Life,
but even so, it may have seemed
positively risky at the time to put him in the director's chair for a somewhat sprawling story involving a black family and several associated characters,
in the somewhat unusual location of 1920s Kansas (where Parks grew up).
While parts of this story are going to be almost depressingly familiar to anyone acquainted with the way blacks found themselves treated in this
general time period, the Kansas setting is actually one of the film's more interesting aspects, however subliminal it may be. It's not all
that
subliminal in the movie's opening scenes, which seem to be out of some decidedly alternate version of
The Wizard of Oz (see screenshot 6). That twister leaves young man Newt
Winger
(Kyle Johnson) slightly injured, but the whole vignette quickly documents the close knit Winger clan, which seems to have property and livestock, in
what might surprise some unfamiliar with a kind of renegade bunch of African Americans who emigrated to Kansas and rather niftily became known
as
Exodusters.
Black Americans in the 1920s as a general topic may almost inevitably bring to mind tragedies like the co-called Tulsa Race Riots of 1921 (which
are
overtly mentioned in some of the supplements included on this disc), but what's kind of amazing is while, yes, there are definitely different
socioeconomic conditions shown in the film, there's a perhaps unexpected "comfortable" feeling with regard to lifestyles, as evidenced by not just
the
Wingers' overall living situation, but recreation that the entire black community enjoys, as seen in screenshot 11. This is all to say that while some
aspects of
The Learning Tree may strike some as positively "old school", contextually the film is really remarkable example of a largely
intact
and resilient black family which has managed to at least do "okay" for itself. And that perhaps plays (if only subliminally) into some "moral" choices
that Newt has to make as the story progresses.
If I (hopefully obviously) jokingly referred to a well remembered Judy Garland movie above, I might also suggest that there are elements in
The Learning Tree that play surprisingly similar to some of the setups in the old Warner Brothers gangster movies, where two kids raised at
least close to each other end up choosing different paths. Newt is the obvious "good kid" in this formulation, with Marcus (Alex Clarke), a character
who perhaps has the too on the nose surname Savage, due to one admittedly stupid and unabashedly (initially) minor mistake ends up
incarcerated, leading to later repercussions for both Marcus and Newt.
A budding romance between Newt and Arcella Jefferson (Mira Waters) is also featured, though in one of the film's more tragic if melodramatic
developments,
happily ever after is not in the cards. What's amazing about Parks' approach to this film is setting Newt up on a seemingly no win proposition late
in the film when he's witness to a crime that has connections to Marcus' imprisonment, and who then has to choose between doing what is
objectively
"right" but perhaps culturally (for want of a better term) questionable.
The Learning Tree Blu-ray, Video Quality
The Learning Tree is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Criterion Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Criterion's
insert booklet has the following information on the master:
The Learning Tree is presented in its original CinemaScope aspect ratio of 2.35:1. A 35 mm interpositive was scanned in 2K resolution on a
Lasergraphics Director film scanner at Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging in Burbank, California. A 35 mm library print was used as color reference.
The original monaural soundtrack was remastered from the two inch magnetic track.
While there are some variances on display in terms of color temperature in particular, this is an often stunning looking presentation courtesy of Burnett
Guffey's evocative cinematography. Things look just
slightly faded to my eyes at times, with a somewhat drab brownish appearance, but that
said, things can still pop vividly throughout the film, and some of the most brightly lit outdoor material, as in the late carnival sequence featuring the
boxing match, really look fantastic. Damage is commendably minimal, though there is some "baked in" roughness during things like optical dissolves
(see screenshot 19). Aside from understandable variances during things like dissolves, the grain field is organic looking and I noticed no problems
whatsoever with compression anomalies. Fine detail is typically very good to excellent, though Parks isn't shy from employing then trendy techniques
like sudden zooms, which can momentarily affect things. My score is 4.25.
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