| Compensation | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Compensation film poster | |
| Directed by | Zeinabu irene Davis |
| Written by | Marc Arthur Chéry |
| Based on | "Compensation" 1906 poem byPaul Laurence Dunbar |
| Produced by | Zeinabu irene Davis |
| Starring | Michelle A. Banks John Earl Jelks |
| Cinematography | Pierre H. L. Desir, Jr. |
| Edited by | Zeinabu irene Davis Dana Briscoe |
| Music by | Reginald R. Robinson Atiba Y. Jali |
Production company | Wimmin with a Mission Productions[1] |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 92 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Languages | English American Sign language |
| Box office | $11,403[2] |
Compensation is a 1999independentdrama film produced, co-edited and directed byZeinabu irene Davis and written by Marc Arthur Chéry. The film is about two parallel love stories set in turn-of-the-century and present-day Chicago, with both stories concerning a relationship between adeaf woman and a hearing man. The story is inspired by the 1906 poem of the same name from early African-American writerPaul Laurence Dunbar.[3] The film stars Michelle A. Banks andJohn Earl Jelks in the leading roles. The early part of the story is shot like asilent film. Though the film was not released until 1999, filming took place in 1993.[4]
The film premiered at 1999Atlanta Film and Video Festival and was later screened at the 2000Sundance Film Festival in the Dramatic Feature category.[3] The film was also shown at theMuseum of Photographic Arts inSan Diego,[5] the Independent Film Market inNew York, and thePan African Film Festival inLos Angeles. Film criticRichard Brody has described the film as "one of the greatest American independent films ever made."[6]
In 2024, the Librarian of Congress named the work to theLibrary of CongressNational Film Registry, designating it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant," and therefore worthy of preservation.[7][8]
In 1910, Malindy, an educated seamstress who mobilizes againstsegregation at herschool for the deaf, meets and falls in love with Arthur, a hearing man and anilliterate migrant worker from Mississippi. Malindy teaches ArthurASL and how to read and write. In the present day, artist Malaika and librarian Nico also fall in love after a series of encounters. Both couples revel in the splendor of romance and a possible lifetime commitment, only to be forced to deal with the dreaded diseases of their respective times:tuberculosis andAIDS. In both stories, the couples also face opposition from those that do not think a relationship between a hearing person and deaf person will be compatible.
The film was not initially conceived as a story featuring deaf performers until Davis saw actress Michelle A. Banks in a production ofWaiting for Godot inSaint Paul, Minnesota and was impressed by her performance.[9] Davis' husband, Marc Arthur Chéry, revised the script to make her and other characters deaf. Davis also cast deaf actors in other roles and hired deaf technicians for the film crew.[9]
The entire film was shot in Chicago, Illinois to pay tribute to the director's previous residence and to expose audiences to the beauty of the city. Chicago locations included the Ephphatha Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Deaf, the Legler Branch of theChicago Public Library, and theIndiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Filming took place from July to August 1993.[10]
Reginald R. Robinson, a notedragtime composer and performer, served as the film's period music score composer.[11] Robinson incorporated the piano and mandolin into all his compositions for the film. Atiba Y. Jali, served as the contemporary music score composer.[12] Jali combined traditional instruments like the drums and flute with less commonly used instruments such as the balafou,berimbau andyidaki.
The film was screened at the 1999Atlanta Film and Video Festival, the 1999Toronto International Film Festival, and the 2000Sundance Film Festival.[13][14][15]
The film went unreleased on VHS and DVD for many years until 2021, when theCriterion Channel madeCompensation available for streaming.[6][16]
A 4K restoration was undertaken byThe Criterion Collection, TheUCLA Film and Television Archive, and Wimmin With a Mission Productions in conjunction with TheSundance Institute from a scan of the 16mm original camera negative. The 5.1 surround soundtrack was mastered from DAT tapes by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Newly created open captions have been implemented, designed by Alison O’Daniel in collaboration with the Compensation Caption Creative Team. The restoration screened as part of the Revivals section of the 62ndNew York Film Festival[17] and the 60thChicago International Film Festival.[18] The restoration was screened in theaters on February 21, 2025, distributed byJanus Films.[19]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 92% of 12 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.7/10.[20]
Kevin Thomas of theLos Angeles Times hailed the film as "beautiful and poignant", saying "Davis is adept at not only illuminating the challenges of love crossing the hearing barrier but also in suggesting that such a challenge does not somehow miraculously protect the couple from the even-greater challenges that can turn anyone's life upside-down in any era."[21] Thomas called the film "an important achievement, illuminating and captivating, and it deserves the chance to see the widest audience possible."[21]
Ian Grey of theBaltimore City Paper praisedCompensation as "brilliant", citing Davis' " use of intertitles and subtitles (for, respectively, the film's early-1900s and present-day sequences) as a way to address the limitations of spoken language while simultaneously honoring contemporary African filmmaking techniques, which emphasize visuals over dialogue."[9]
Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times praised the film as "dreamy, atmosphere reveries, rich in humor and social observation", and called it a "small, quiet, enchanting film about characters who endure and prevail and trust themselves."[22] Rick Lyman ofThe New York Times noted the film is "structurally daring".[23] PoetElizabeth Alexander commended how the original poem that inspired the film appeared to "move this very contemporary filmmaker narratively to the past but technically forward to innovation".[24]
In the journalCritical Methodologies, Greg Dimitriadis calledCompensation "...a powerful film. It is boldly experimental. Illness and death are presented as forces that persons cannot control. The death of a loved one is blunted by the gift of love itself. That gift compensates for life’s losses. In showing this, Davis’s film brings great dignity and respect to the situations of African American women and men. At the same time, her film honors African American culture and history."[25]
In a 2019 review forThe New Yorker,Richard Brody also praised the film, writing "Davis incorporates a copious and evocative set of archival photographs into the earlier time’s action, and she films them with a sense of avid and dramatic curiosity that conjure the historical period with a moving immediacy. Filming in black-and-white, she develops a virtual historical archeology, lavishly detailed and alive to the aesthetic spirit of the time."[26]
Compensation was awarded with the 1999Gordon Parks Directing Award from theIndependent Feature Project,[14] as well as a 1999 Reel Black Award for Outstanding Film.[13] The film was also nominated for theJohn Cassavetes Award at the15th Independent Spirit Awards, an award given to filmmakers for debut features made under $500,000, losing to theshot-on-video filmThe Blair Witch Project.[27][28]