Despite what anyone may tell you, BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD is not something new. Sure, it does bring a new cinematic voice, that being director Benh Zeitlin, and a breakthrough performance for its main character, eight-year-old Quvenzhané Wallis, but the art film relishes on using popular and theatrical tropes of melodrama to go with its random fantastical moments. From the dysfunctional alcoholic parent to the mama search to the medicine run, the film actively wants to push all your buttons of emotion, mashing them when a scene calls for a purposeful reaction. It is all fun and games until it comes time to be super-serious; once there, bust out the tissues or use your butter-stained napkins because Zeitlin wants tears to be flowing out of those eyes.
I may have some strong criticism against its deliberate direction but it doesn't stop BEASTS from being the most affecting film of 2012. It may feel familiar but the film is genuinely fresh and moving, brimming with hurtful looks and bridled up sadness. This family depression is pureed with a plentiful bevy of surreal metaphors, which are sometimes literally punched into the plot, and scenes of all-out joy. For an allegory of Hurricane Katrina, it is nice that the film would rather capture human strength and happiness amid a destroyed world far more often than all-out exploitation of suffering.
On a lonely but uproariously civilized island near New Orleans, dubbed the Bathtub by its residents, lies the perplexing lifestyle of young Hushpuppy and her father Wink. They live in separate fabricated houses, both composed of dilapidated junk but made suited to their current states of mind, only to briefly meet up with each other for evening's supper and rampant town celebrations. Calling their relationship strained is putting it mildly, especially since Wink will disappear for a time without telling Hushpuppy, nor seems to care. However, the two must stay together and alive once a mighty, prophetic storm hurdles upon and drowns the island. That is, if they can survive from their malicious American neighbors behind the leeves and an incoming flux of formerly extinct aurochs, who seem destined to go after Hushpuppy for some reason.
Despite the film's curtain and guise of being set in a magical realm, the painful realism of a father-daughter relationship is the real story. Zeitlin can throw out more goofy characters with strange habits, odd tattoos, and giant rampaging animals but they can not subside the venom and nervousness between the two compelling characters. This will be the crux for many who wish to view this, as the constant switch between artificiality and despair could be a fatal mixture for some. I frankly enjoyed it though I do feel that the kookiness factor and off-putting dialogue is a bit groan inducing at times, despite the knowledge and awareness that the story's view point is from a child.
Going the Terence Malick approach also helped the movie, as the evocative cinematography, done on ole reliable 16 millimeter film, captures unfiltered and untouched jollies and frights. The score adds another layer to the beauty but is often rendered muted by the sheer powerfulness in the lead performers. Quvenzhané Wallis is of course getting the most cheers from the majors, as she does convey maturity and professionalism beyond her years. Every big protagonist needs someone to put the person over, however, and that is why I believe Dwight Henry as Wink is really the star of the show. An untrained actor who has lived through several hurricanes in New Orleans, Henry just exalts abrupt emotions that exemplifies a man broken down by distrust with loved ones and his own body. His loose cannon antics make the screen pop and create boundless endings to scenes, causing audiences to hold their breath and await either a slap, a chuckle, or something more deep and personal.
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD is very devastating yet cheerful. I may feel abused by Zeitlin into feeling something on a moment's notice but this factor doesn't take away the fact that there is so much goodness upon the screen. BEASTS is one of the films to be celebrated from this year's Sundance and throughout all of 2012. Despite its PG-13 label, this is a good fairy tale for kids, sure to help them feel important in life and give them a good dose of ambiguity.
FINAL REVIEW: 4 / 5
No comments:
Post a Comment