by Sam Juliano
The unconscionably horrific events that unfolded in idyllic Newtown, Connecticut on the morning of December 14, 2012 left a world in cathartic disbelief. Three and a half years later a mere reference rekindles the darkest memories that can be envisioned. Inevitably some brave -some might frame them in a much more unflattering light- documentary filmmakers sought to painfully recall the specifics and wider implications of a crime so unthinkable that many choose not to deal with it in conversation, much less in any comprehensive medium that will bring numbing grief left in a holding pattern a renewed potency. The human stories surrounding the families who lost children at Sandy Hook Elementary School on that fateful day dominated the internet for many months, and the killer whose name is often unspoken was leading search engine inquiries, and typically unrestrained local tabloids. Indeed to this date in time there remain unsettled lawsuits on behalf of the victims’ families -20 first graders and six adults including the school’s principal were gunned down after the killer shot his way through glass panels at the building’s entry point, from which point he randomly stalked and shot at classes scurrying for cover. The deranged 20 year-old who lived on the other side of town on Yogananda Drive, had killed his mother in her sleep with one of the cadre of weapons kept in the house and later turned the Bushmaster semiautomatic rifle on himself as the first responders entered the school. There were heroes, teachers who sacrificed their own lives for their students, and a few others -students fleeing after the killer’s weapon apparently jammed and one first grader who played dead- who were on the right side of luck, and there are forever shattered families who can never move beyond the utter senselessness of the tragedy. The horror particularly -and understandably- brought the calls for gun control to deafening levels, with the New York Daily News leading a continuing crusade against anyone sympathetic to weapons providers or legislators sympathetic to their cause. Just a few weeks ago Democrat presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was strongly criticized for his failure to hold gun store owners responsible, in what seemed to be a very dubious position for the Vermont Senator to make at this time.
Two documentaries about the Newtown massacre have opened on the festival circuit in the past months. One titled Newtown was well-received at Sundance, and will run next week at the nearby Montclair Film Festival. Midsummer in Newtown, which was the runner-up Audience winner for documentary at Tribeca this past week keeps the ongoing effect of the tragedy at arm’s length while highlighting a moving tribute to the surviving families by a team of New York City theatrical professionals, who set up camp in Newtown to stage a musical version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream that was planned to star Sandy Hook students. The director Lloyd Kramer shifted course during his preparations for a documentary that was aimed at dealing with the tragedy head-on to instead embrace the concept of a town trying to heal. Kramer’s film showcases the process of the kids trying to negotiate the daunting task of learning Shakespeare for performing purposes, while alternately focusing on a few families who either lost children in the mass shooting or were so traumatized by the experience that their lives would never be the same moving forward. Kramer intimately examines their lives through questions, conversations and work in progress, masking what is still a wrenching study of grief and the sustained aftermath of a tragedy that seems destined to dominate life in a scenic hamlet engulfed by melancholia.
While the basic intent of the production is therapeutic, the documentary emphasizes artistic creativity, how teamwork brings a devastated community together, and the bonding inherent in a project that by its nature is socially all-embracing. One student Tain Gregory, who lost his closest friend in the shooting does his best to hold back on his emotions until he is later too overcome to stay the course at the play’s conclusion. The overwhelming poignancy of that moment leaves one as a viewer completely shattered. Tain’s captivating “Jabberwocky” audition at the start is one of the film’s most precious sequences.
The renowned jazz saxophonist Jimmy Greene and his wife Nelba-Marquez lost their daughter Ana Grace and have been unable to get past the morning of that fateful day when they said goodbye to her for the last time as she boarded the school bus. Their surviving son is still sorting out his own grief as the loss of his beloved sister. Greene composes an album “Beautiful Life” to a misty eyed concert audience, while Nelba is moved to assist troubled children with a foundation, the Ana Grace Project. Nelba comes to understand her husband’s music is an integral part of the healing process and mode of parental expression of love and beauty for their surviving child as well as an eternal candle for Ana.
Another student deeply affected by the horror is Sammy Vertucci, who has suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, remaining withdrawn until she is cast as Mustardseed, an attendant to the fairy queen. The experience helps to bring her out of her shell and allows her to become part of the team.
To his credit Kramer never tries to suffocate this fragile material with a heavy hand – he gives these people their distance, allowing the parents to emote while following children through their stirring performances. The result is a film that plays out free of coaxing, content to allow those closest to the tragedy to provide an intimate testament to their own way of coping with an event no person on earth should ever have to deal with. Midsummer in Newtown moves to the deepest depths and it surely one of the best films of the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival.
