The Sunset Limited is unique in a number of ways. Called a novel in dramatic form, it is meant to be both read and performed in order to grasp the full meaning behind the work. A distinctive characteristic is that the only two characters are unnamed, just labeled the Black and the Professor (or White in the film), and they remain in one room of Black’s apartment for the duration of the story. It is obvious that the men have drastically different views of life and the world around them. On one hand, we have the white professor, who is brilliant and highly educated with a love for culture, but has an incredibly gloomy outlook because he has been deeply depressed for years and is suicidal. Then there is the black man, who saves the white man from jumping in front of a train and preaches to the white man about God’s love while alternatively telling gruesome, bloody stories about how he bludgeoned another man while he was in prison for murder. These contrasting outlooks lead audiences to ponder whose view is right and question the very nature of reality itself.
What do you think? Is the black man right, or is the white man? Perhaps it's neither, or maybe even both are correct if reality is merely based upon a person's point of view. Watch the full film below to formulate your own opinion.
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