beasts of the southern wild criticism

Real people aren't beasts, nor do they require starry-eyed glorification. The film is its own beast, and it's a rare one. As well as offering a delicious audio-visual feast, the film firmly makes the case that those who have least to blame for global warming — those living close to nature — will be the ones who ultimately suffer the most. It's unlikely there will be a film as visually stunning or poetic this year - or perhaps any year - to rival Beasts of the Southern Wild. In short, it is unforgettable. In trying through incessant narration to make a six-year-old a prolix sage, Zeitlin can't avoid falling into sticky sentimentality. The point of watching the film, and the only reason to see it, is the experience of watching it, which sounds tautological or something, but is just true. In talking about the film, a feat of magical realism about a young girl coping with a devastating flood and an ailing, degenerate father in Southern Louisiana, critics have been as likely to comment on the astounding production of the film as they are its actual content. It's very much an art piece, to be sure, but it feels like a genuine one that, while meditated, speaks fluently and truly for the place, people and culture it so indelibly depicts. It's a powerful visual and sonic creation with unforgettable characters, set in a heartache-inducing imaginary vision of American community, worlds away from hyper-technologized urban existence. Maybe the best way to describe Beasts of the Southern Wild is faux-k art. In Benh Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar’s Beasts of the Southern Wild, a six-year-old girl named Hushpuppy — tiny and titanic, victim and invincible, a beast but more so a woman — has to figure how to tell her father she’ll be all right.She’s physically powerless; her biceps (we know because she flexes for him anyway) are about as thick as marshgrass. Her performance alone should be the reason why people need to see this film. Are directors behind punishing run times? It's hard not to admire Zeitlin's ambitious vision, his do-it-yourself aesthetic, and the commitment of his cast and crew - a kind of utopian collective whose jobs often overlapped, as the local, nonprofessional actors collaborated on set-building and other technical tasks. A tale of wonder. [23 July 2012, p.80]. Notable Video Game Releases: New and Upcoming, What to Watch Now on HBO Max and the HBO App. Variety said: “An emotionally wrenching if somewhat meandering parable likely to register strongest among critics and cineastes.” — Peter Debruge. Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune declared "Beasts of the Southern Wild" one of the most divisive films of the year back in July. If we have to be taught such a grim lesson then this is the way to do it. It was a very wise move for the filmmakers to stick with the child protagonist. What I saw was an attempt to portray abject and total squalor as heroic. A brave and inspired antidote to time-wasting mainstream movies, it is unlike anything you've seen before or will likely ever see again. Sometime miraculous films come into being, made by people you've never heard of, starring unknown faces, blindsiding you with creative genius. I wanted to cheer for her anti-establishment living arrangment, but opted instead to call DFACS. Christy Lemire of the Associated Press called it “an explosion of joy in the midst of startling squalor and one of the most visceral, original films to come along in a while.” Miami Herald’s Rene Rodriguez added that it’s “dreamy and poetic, but also grounded in grit and swamp mud.”. I wanted to like this movie. Brings you into a world you didn't know existed with a closeness that the movies almost never achieve. She's (Hushpuppy) trying to make sense of this world, and the movie, pitched between realism and fable, is the story of how she finally does. Through her journey, she learns, from her friends, family, and nature, how to take care of herself, and eventually become "King of the Bathtub." “Some of the magical realism imagery may seem too literal, too obvious, and may not work for everyone,” Lemire noted. Beasts of the Southern Wild is not only a wonderful film, but a surprisingly uplifting experience as a whole. A running motif regarding long frozen prehistoric behemoths dislodging from polar icecaps and drifting down to wreak havoc on the Gulf Coast — the “beasts” after which the film is titled — opens “Beasts of the Southern Wild” up to its largest source of criticism. The success of this exuberant, affecting debut feature from director Benh Zeitlin depends on his ability to universalize the particular, in this case by drawing us into the perspective of a six-year-old girl living in squalor and feeling and uncertainty in the Louisiana bayou, then telling our own story from behind it. A stunning debut that finds its dandelion-haired heroine fighting rising tides and fantastic creatures in a mythic battle against modernity. A tale of wonder. It may get a little bit too meta and strange for its own good, but "Beasts Of The Southern Wild" certainly doesn't care as it delivers a thoughtfully verite style overlayed upon an unconventionally winsome story and environment. If we have to be taught such a grim lesson then this is the way to do it. Do not miss this performance, or this quietly astonishing, life-affirming masterpiece. Magical realism is far more acceptable and preferable to an audience than what could arguably be termed child cruelty. Hushpuppy's voiceover reveals the island folk rarely need an excuse to have a party or take another holiday. © 2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Winds up feeling like a form of emotional tourism. Phillips called the Oscar-nommed thesp “a compelling force of nature” and the Washington Post’s Ann Hornaday, another of the film’s detractors, called her character Hushpuppy “one of the most memorable protagonists — and debut performances — to grace the big screen in a long time.” She was 6 at the time the film started production. Perhaps Zeitlin isn't really making an issue of class distinctions. Mark down the date: June 27. She's (Hushpuppy) trying to make sense of this world, and the movie, pitched between realism and fable, is the story of how she finally does. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, It's hard not to see Beasts as an expression of post-affluent America. While overall impressions are mixed, impressions of star Quvenzhane Wallis are uniform. Please enter your birth date to watch this video: You are not allowed to view this material at this time. As well as offering a delicious audio-visual feast, the film firmly makes the case that those who have least to blame for global warming — those living close to nature — will be the ones who ultimately suffer the most. The movie is small, local, and idiosyncratic. "The whole universe depends on everything fitting together just right," declares Hushpuppy, the fierce, nappy-headed girl at the center of this extraordinary southern gothic. I hope I'm not raining on Beasts of the Southern Wild's deluge to say it doesn't always live up to its pretensions. Beasts of the Southern Wild is not only a wonderful story -- a portrait of intestinal fortitude in the face of enormous change -- but it's our story, forged in our own shared recent history and dripping with flood, sweat and tears. That balance is the key to the movie's magic. It's undoubtedly something extraordinary: like a live-action Miyazaki film, with Days Of Heaven narration, set in a dirt-poor community at an unspecified time of crisis. Beasts of the Southern Wild transports us to places that are peculiar and dangerous and magical, and makes us feel weirdly at home. © 2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. That's when American moviegoers will see this perfect storm of a film, and the tiny force of nature that is Quvenzhané Wallis. If you relish the idea of a drunk, mental father, dying of some un-named disease, mentoring his 6 year old daughter to survive alone after his passing, by instilling in her the idea that she is strong and fearless, while living in a tideland, in a hovel made out of scraps of sheet metal, then you will love this movie. Read full review If nothing else, this memorable effort eloquently displays Hushpuppy's fragile understanding of her world, where the only certainty is that nothing lasts forever. A mixture of magical realism, Southern gothic, coming-of-age movie, star turn for first-timers, disaster story and out-and-out strangeness. Beasts of the Southern Wild is not only a wonderful film, but a surprisingly uplifting experience as a whole. That makes "Beasts" into a gigantic triumph even when it falls apart. It's a beautiful, strange tone poem about childhood and innocence, set in a strange but still recognizable world where the polar ice caps are melting, crayfish shacks float down rivers and enormous aurochs, an extinct breed of bison, are sloughing their way toward our tiny, adorable narrator. Then again, it's also a thing of beauty and originality - and for that, sustained huzzahs are in order. Beasts of the Southern Wild is shot through the eyes of a six year old. But more importantly, the film introduces a new kind of heroine in live-action film: the small but strong female independent heroine, played astoundingly flawlessly by Wallis.

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