Green Book | A road tale in segregated America

Fresh from winning the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, the film chosen open the festival was Green Book – a moving comedy based on a true story.

Set in 1962 America, “Green Book” tells the story of Don Shirly, an African-American musician, who hires Frank Vallelonga aka “Tony Lip,” an Italian-American bouncer from the Bronx, to be his driver on a concert tour through the Deep South, relying on the Negro Motorist Green Book, a travel guide to safe hotels, diners and business options for African Americans during the Jim Crow laws of segregation.

Shirly speaks in perfect English, carrying himself with grace, never willing to resort to violence. Aware of the blatant bigotry of his time, he hires Vallelonga who isn’t afraid to use his fists to get his way. The pair go up against danger, racism and learn to set aside their differences and develop a friendship filled with humor and humanity.

American director Peter Farrelly put on screen this touching comedy and served as co-writer of the script. Born in 1956, Farrelly originally worked as a writer publishing his first novel in 1988. He is better-known for, alongside his brother Bobby (collectively called the Farrelly Brothers), producing and directing star-filled blockbuster comedies such as the famous 1994 “Dumb and Dumber,” starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels and the well-known There’s Something About Mary, aired in 1998, which starred Cameron Diaz, Ben Stiller and Matt Dillon.