ONCE AGAIN (FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME) – Review by Marina Richter
DeRay (Jeroboam Bozeman), a young man with a criminal past is given a second chance to descend to Earth and make things differently. As he plummets from the sky, with a massive blood stain covering his chest, his thoughts are traveling the same mythical route taken by the dying who are reliving their memories: “I built the temple, and now it’s gone, so why can’t I move on?” – he ponders. Biblical as this reference is, its meaning in Once Again (for the very first time) is to be sought somewhere else.
With his arms and legs flailing in the air, DeRay is delivered to destiny which brings him inside of a multi-storey residential building in New York City. The are many doors that look exactly the same, and the young man isn’t sure what he is supposed to do except to appreciate and embrace whatever comes next. He is justifyingly hesitant, but a door needs to be opened. And as we start to wonder what it is that we are seeing, Bozeman (the multi-award winner and main dancer for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater who has a long list of outstanding creative accomplishments), gives the first of his many memorable dance performances in the movie. And then, he opens that one door he was hoping to get behind from the very beginning – Naima’s (Mecca ‘Meccamorphosis’ Verdell).
There are no simple truths in Boaz Yakin’s fairytale Once Again (for the very first time), a film made of sheer creative energy and starring two fascinating artists: Jeroboam Bozeman and Mecca Verdell. Both stars in their own artistic fields – dance performance and poetry (although it must be said that Vardell is an actress by profession, as well) – their talents unite to tell a tale of two lovers who are trying to find a way back to each other, while dealing with their personal traumas from both the past and the present. Although their memories differ, there is still a strong connection between them. Will DeRay also get a second chance with Naima?
Dance, rap battles, and slam poetry come together in Yakin’s take on loneliness, love and forgiveness in which the truth depends on people’s personal experiences. The inner pain, or the physical one inflicted by someone else, the feeling of rejection and ‘invisibility’ are all part of the narrative.
“I hate what I love, and I love what I hate” concludes Naima in one of her stage performances, addressing an all-male audience. It’s the final chapter of her thoughts on personal invisibility. Verdell’s words, powerfully switching from memories to social commentary, only to return to her examination of own thoughts and feelings, are knife sharp. Even during the very long poetic monologues, she keeps the viewer’s curiosity burning by the magic of verbal expression. Also impressive is Emma Faith Bullard in the role of young Naima in her formative, traumatic years.
It’s not surprising that a seasoned and successful scriptwriter like Boaz Yakin can deliver truly brilliant moments that turn his film into an ever more addictive watch. This is particularly the case with scenes in which DeRay (both young and older) tries to have a conversation with his mother. It is a recognizable phenomena of inter-generational deafness, in which children and parents speak past each other, and it’s penned with wit and humor.
At the same time, Once Again (for the first time) doesn’t follow a standard type of narrative storytelling. It is, at the end of the day, a movie which feeds on very specific forms of artistic expression given in dance and verses. The rap and dance battle scenes are done with a fascinating precision, both in terms of choreography and technical execution. Choreographer Rennie Harris does his magic trick (yet again), offering a spectacle of dance movements, and cinematographer Ray Huang pulls another one by lensing it with a mathematical precision and speed.
Once Again (for the first time) celebrated its world premiere in the Official Selection of the prestigious Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award.
