Just, Melvin
Dir/Scr/Prod/Ed/ Music: James Ronald Whitney.
35mm, 96 min., 2000 (RP)
This disturbing journey into the heart of darkness of an American family is an act of revenge, a filmmaker’s vendetta to right an unforgivable wrong. In other words: This time it’s personal. Whitney’s documentary consists primarily of interviews with members of his immediate family, which expose the incestuous abuse inflicted by his grandfather, Melvin Just, and its devastating emotional impact upon his mother, his aunts, and others. Explicit descriptions of sexual acts appall; the capacity of any man to perform them bewilders. Be forewarned: This is a tough film to watch. For those who can bear it, however, Just, Melvin raises unsettling questions with a determined skill that is admirable, given Whitney’s close relationship to the subject matter. He never crosses the line, keeping his objective in perspective without getting overwhelmed by the horrors he is purging. By the time the film reaches the interview with the monstrous patriarch — disabled by a stroke and confined to a wheelchair, his enormous belly protruding out from underneath a T-shirt, he is a pathetic sight — Just, Melvin has achieved a sympathetic notoriety that both compels and repels you. Fri, Mar 17, 6:30pm, Alamo Drafthouse
This article appears in March 17 • 2000.
