"The whole universe depends on everything fitting together just right. If one piece busts, even the smallest piece. the whole universe will get busted."
Open letter to all professors who ever have the inspiration to add a film into their curriculum: don't choose a sad movie because no student wants to cry in class because of a film. In my American Literature class, we just finished up watching Beasts of the Southern Wild (2013). I had already known the movie's critical acclaim (last year's Oscars) and well, I was excited to watch it finally. I was so naive and so wrong. I'm a pretty sensitive person when it comes to anything, which is a quality I find that tends to be a hindrance than an overall advantage. Confront me, I cry. Cry in front of me, I get teary eyed. If nervous, I cry. I'm the woman who cried. It gets worse in films when anyone is in the hospital and on the verge of death or when people have this deep and intense situation that is very driven with emotion. With Beasts of the Southern Wild, I was fine until Hushpuppy and the Bathtub gang are led to the shelter and then everything started crumbling, especially when they went rogue and went back. I felt so deeply connected with Hushpuppy in terms of her relationship with her father, both detached yet moved to want to be closer but can't that it perhaps made the tears flow much more easier than I would have liked. But, besides this connection, I felt the film itself lacked in character development outside of Hushpuppy. There's little to no full deeper story to her relationship to her father, why or how it had become so strained, what had caused him to treat her with such distance. We don't see much of a deeper story with the other characters that surround her. Heavy themes of class, and nature surround the film which play off nicely through the cinematography. I think that's what appealed to me the most besides of the great acting from its leading star (she's so young, she puts young me to shame!) The gorgeous shots entranced me, and the pace of the storyline did not slack off at all. I understand completely why it was nominated (despite its minor flaws) and I definitely recommend others to watch it. But, unlike me, don't watch it with others around--specifically strangers/classmates--unless you and your friends want to share the waterfall springing from your eyes. Rating : ★★★★☆ |
