Ryan Coogler made a splashy debut as writer and director of Fruitvale Station, a biopic based on real life tragedy.
The tale is based on the events leading to the death of Oscar Grant, a young man killed in 2009 by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police officer Johannes Mehserle at the Fruitvale district station in Oakland, California.
The film stars Michael B. Jordan as Grant, with Kevin Durand and Chad Michael Murray playing the two BART police officers involved in Grant’s death, though their names were changed for the film.
The film debuted under its original title, Fruitvale, at the 2013 Sundance Film Fest, where it won the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for U.S. dramatic film.
It was later screened in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2013 Cannes Film Fest, where it won the Best First Film Award.
Greeted with critical acclaim, the film was released in theaters on July 12, 2013, grossing over $17 million against its $900,000 budget.
The film depicts the last day of the life of Oscar Grant III, age 22, from Hayward, CA, who was fatally shot by BART Police in the early morning hours of January 1, 2009.
It begins with actual footage of Oscar and his friends being detained by BART Police at the Fruitvale station in Oakland on January 1, 2009, at 2:15 a.m., right before the shooting.
Oscar and girlfriend Sophina argue about Grant’s infidelity. Later, he unsuccessfully attempts to get his job back at a grocery store, Farmer Joe’s. He considers returning to dealing marijuana, but then decides to dump his stash.
In the evening, he attends a birthday party for his mother, Wanda, and agrees to take the BART train to see fireworks and New Year’s festivities in San Francisco, since she worries about him driving.
On the return train, Katie, a customer at the grocery store where Oscar used to work, recognizes him and calls out his name. A man that Oscar knew in prison notices him, and a fight breaks out.
BART police respond to the scene, and Oscar is among the passengers detained. While being restrained by officers Caruso and Ingram, Oscar is shot in the back by Ingram. A stunned Caruso demands to know what happened. Oscar is rushed to the hospital and dies just hours after undergoing emergency surgery.
Onscreen text describes the aftermath: Oscar’s killing sparked a series of protests and riots across the city after several witnesses recorded the incident with cellphones and video cameras.
The BART officers involved were fired, and “Ingram” (the officers’ names were changed) was later tried and found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, claiming he mistook his gun for his Taser, and served 11-month sentence.
The final images show a gathering of people celebrating Oscar’s life on January 1, 2013, with Grant’s daughter Tatiana among them.
Ryan Coogler was graduate student at the USC School of Cinematic Arts when Grant was shot on January 1, 2009. Coogler wished to make a film about Grant’s last day: “I wanted the audience to get to know this guy, to get attached, so that when the situation happens to him, it’s not just like you read it in the paper. When you know somebody as a human being, you know that life means something.”
Coogler met Grant family’s attorney John Burris through a mutual friend, and also worked with members of the Grant’s family.
In January 2011, Oscar winner Forest Whitaker’s production company was looking for young filmmakers to mentor. Coogler met the Head of Production and later had a meeting with Whitaker, who supported Fruitvale.
Coogler developed the script at the Sundance Screenwriters Lab. The film received funding from the Feature Film Program (FFP) and the San Francisco Film Society.
Coogler had Michael B. Jordan in mind to play Grant before writing the script. In April 2012, Octavia Spencer joined the cast, and also received a co-exec producer credit as she participated in funding the film.
Other Notable investors included Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help, a bestselling novel adapted as a successful film, for which Spencer won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar.
Fruitvale Station was shot in Oakland for 20 days in July 2012, at and around the Bay Area Rapid Transit platform where Grant was killed. BART let the crew film at Fruitvale station. Most of the platform scenes were shot over the course of 2 nights (with another night dedicated to the sequences on the train that led up to the police confrontation).
San Quentin State Prison served as a filming location for a flashback scene with prisoners featured as extras.
The film includes actual amateur footage of the shooting. Says, Coogler: “Being from the Bay Area, I knew that footage like the back of my hand, but more people had no idea about this story. It made sense for them to see that footage and what happened to Oscar, so it was our responsibility to put that out there.
Soundtrack
The score is by Coogler’s fellow USC graduate Ludwig Goransson: Ryan and I talked a lot about how sound design was going to have a huge role in the movie, and very early on I got sent the actual sound recordings of the BART train. I manipulated the train sound and made it almost feel like a dark ambient synth sound. I used it almost throughout the whole BART platform scene. The other elements in the score are layered and manipulated guitars, sounding almost like haunting pads.
Coogler noted: We always were conscious of the score in order to make sure that it always felt organic. A lot of the film played without score, so Ludwig made sure that the score we used came out of sounds in the environment.
Cast
Michael B. Jordan as Oscar Grant III
Melonie Diaz as Sophina Mesa, Oscar’s girlfriend
Octavia Spencer as Wanda Johnson, Oscar’s mother
Kevin Durand as Officer Caruso (based on Tony Pirone)
Chad Michael Murray as Officer Ingram (based on Johannes Mehserle)
Ahna O’Reilly as Katie, who Oscar helps at Farmer Joe’s
Ariana Neal as Tatiana, Oscar and Sophina’s daughter
Keenan Coogler as Cato, Oscar’s friend, who works at Farmer Joe’s
Trestin George as Brandon, Oscar’s friend
Joey Oglesby as Daniel Cale, altercations with Oscar in and out of prison
Michael James as Carlos, Oscar’s friend
Marjorie Shears as Grandma Bonnie, Oscar’s grandmother
Destiny Ekwueme as Chantay, Oscar’s sister
Bianca Rodriguez as Vanessa, Kris’ girlfriend
Julian Keyes as Kris, Oscar’s friend
Kenny Griffin as Jason, Oscar’s friend
Thomas Wright as Tim, Oscar’s friend
Jemal McNeil as Cephus, Oscar’s uncle
Steven Craig Johnson as Daryl, Oscar’s uncle
Alejandra Nolasco as Officer Salazar
Victor Toman as Emi, a manager at Farmer Joe’s
Oscar Grant’s real-life mother, Wanda Johnson, has a small role in the film as Mrs. Stacy, Tatiana’s preschool teacher.
