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“Beasts of the Southern Wild” directed by Benh Zeitlin

By on February 11, 2013

film iconDan Walker on Film

 

Beasts of the Southern Wild

 

 

Director:  Benh Zeitlin (? See below)

Cast:

Quvenzhané Wallis (? See below)

Dwight Henry (? See below)

Levy Easterly (? See below)

 

93 minutes

 

This little movie (it reportedly cost $1.8 million to make) received four surprising Oscar nominations; Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay and Actress.  I saw it during its initial run, having found the trailers intriguing, as was the energetic, sparkly poster.

 

Q1When the movie starts, it’s immediately captivating, as it follows the playful activity of 6 year-old Hushpuppy (Wallis), who lives in The Bathtub, an impoverished and closely-knit community somewhere in the Louisiana bayou.  As the shaky hand-held camera documents her activities, what I was watching seemed so real it felt voyeuristic.  The movie has a “District 9”-style grittiness, which doesn’t look nice but is fascinating from the detached safety of a clean multiplex theatre seat.  The authenticity doesn’t stop with the look of the movie.  All the acting comes across as sincere — the cast of (unwashed) unknowns adds a lot to the film’s authentic look and feel.  What was striking during the entire movie — and when it was over — and even now—  is the work of Wallis.  For a person of any age, much less a 6 year-old,  to give such an honest, sincere, spontaneous performance throughout an entire movie is amazing.  She never lets up.  Whether she is jarred, angry, inquisitive, focused, sad, forceful—, it is all natural and convincing.  Not only is her acting authentic, her voice-over narration is spellbinding and right.  I’m still asking myself how they got this performance out of such a young actor.

 

(Quvenzhane? Wallis), (Dwight Henry)The movie goes on for a duration with Hushpuppy playing on her own or interacting with her intense father, Wink (played by Henry, a local baker that the cast and crew talked into being in the movie).  There were times when his intensity seems over the top until I reminded myself some people are that intense and angry.  You just generally avoid them. Even when he’s happy nurturing to Hushpuppy, it comes across as angry, tough love.

 

I was so caught up in what I was watching, especially the interaction between Hushpuppy and Wink, it took me a while to realize that, despite all the activity, there didn’t seem to be a cohesive storyline. I contemplated leaving the theatre (around the time another guy left) but decided to stick it out to give the film a fair shot.  I found it fascinating to have poverty as a backdrop but not be an issue to the characters or story.  What we consider poverty is a routine way of life for the Bathtubbers.  Everyone seems content with their lives there.  Their value system has no connection to the iPhone-Facebook-Twitter world, which makes their lifestyle almost appealing.  I wanted to join the celebratory shrimp-and-crab boils with the community.  But maybe at a different table.

 

Beasts2There are elements of a storyline here, the rapidly-declining health of Wink, Wink tough-loving Hushpuppy to survive alone without him and the melting of the polar caps which unleash ancient frozen beasts that look like giant boars (a “how-did-they-do-that?” effect) called aurochs.

Dan

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It wasn’t until the movie was completely over that I felt there was a story the way we’re used to having them told. I had been riveted to the screen throughout, feeling untethered, which was slightly unnerving.  This is a unique experience, someone’s really well fleshed-out vision, but I hesitated to recommend it to anyone.  I’m not sure I saw a great or even good movie.  What I felt when it was over was relief— a return to familiar surroundings and some kind of stability.

 

Director and Star

Director and Star

Now that the movie’s success has become bigger than the movie itself, and the Motion Picture Academy has certified it as something to watch, I’m noticing how many people passionately dislike it.  I saw in an article that someone calls people who praise it cultural “lemmings,” which is not fair.  I can also see how someone else could be touched by the movie.  I’m just not one of them.

Even though I didn’t necessarily find “Beasts of the Southern Wild” very satisfying, it’s great that someone’s unorthodox vision has made it to the screen and has become this successful.  I did get something out of it.   This movie should inspire aspiring (I don’t like using those two words in the same writing, much less paragraph, much less sentence, much less have one immediately follow the other) movie makers to hold to their vision.

Dan

B4

 

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