Monday, May 21, 2012

Delta Tour-de-Force


In his feature film debut Benh Zeitlin displays a remarkable understanding of humanity.  His Beasts of the Southern Wild boasts an original story and powerful, compelling performances in a dazzling vision of the world. This rapturous film centers on life in an isolated, Delta community called the Bathtub, which sits outside of the safety of society's constructed levees. Here, a truck bed floating on barrels is a boat and a mason jar filled with plants and dirt is medicine. Ragged survival drives life in the Bathtub, and that way of life could end at any moment with a single deadly storm. Aware of their precarious existence, the toughened residents of the Bathtub send their children to their own version of school to learn about navigating a treacherous and unreliable world. The people also celebrate the preciousness of life though, with residents of the Bathtub boasting more holidays than anywhere else in the world.
Central to of Beasts the Southern Wild is Quvenzhané Wallis as six-year-old Hushpuppy. Refreshingly un-precocious, Hushpuppy commands an unknowingly wise understanding of the intricacies of life in a world where "if one piece busts, even the smallest piece, the entire universe will get busted." Hushpuppy holds animals to her ear to hear their heartbeats, and she creates crayon drawings as documents for preserving her life for people in the future. When she learns about the polar ice caps from her teacher, Hushpuppy feels the immediate impact to her community from melting masses of ice thousands of miles away. For Hushpuppy, the universe connects every body in a strange, magical way. Thus, Hushpuppy views the coinciding events of her father Wink (Dwight Henry) becoming ill and a cataclysmic flood as her own fault, and she sets out to make things right again.
Wallis gives a superb, understated performance. Her uninhibited portrayal grounds the film in Hushpuppy's perspective, which includes fantasies about her absent mother, wild visions of pre-historic aurochs, and a belief that the Bathtub is facing a final apocalypse. The film exists within Hushpuppy's vision of her own reality as she copes with not only her father dying, but her community and way of life dying as well. Wallis authentically shows Hushpuppy making difficult decisions as her situation thrusts adulthood upon her while she is still young. In the film Wink ushers Hushpuppy through a spontaneous rite of passage--cracking open her first crab--and by the final moments Wallis has created a full transformation away from curious girlhood, as she tackles maturity, modernity, and mortality all at once.
Henry as Wink presents a fully realized characterization as well. Wink's fathering may seem negligent. Hushpuppy lives apart from him in a separate trailer, and he refuses to leave the Bathtub during the torrential storm. Henry's nuanced portrayal, however, shows Wink's desire to protect his daughter and raise her as a survivor, despite Wink's unconventional parenting. Wink takes risks and makes sacrifices for his daughter, and ultimately, he must rely on Hushpuppy as she has depended on him.
Joining Wallis and Henry, non-professional locals from Louisiana compose the majority of the other actors, giving a credible look and feel to Beasts of the Southern Wild. These locals play the remaining residents of the Bathtub who band together in the wake of the flood to rebuild their community. The storm, however, has left their precious, delicate land too ravaged for revival. Still, those left group together one final time to escape a forced evacuation by the government. Both the natural world and modern society threaten the lives of the individuals of the Bathtub's, but as Hushpuppy says, "the whole universe depends on everything fitting together just right." Each individual and community is a small piece in the puzzle of the way the world works.
Zeitlin draws a natural balance between harsh realism and hopeful, poetic imagery. Utilizing shaky camerawork, Zeitlin captures the fortitude and joy of life in the Bathtub. He brings out the rawness and freshness of the natural world and surroundings of his characters.  Majestic frames of melting icebergs crashing into the sea and running hoards of aurochs establish Hushpuppy's inner thoughts. Every shot in Beasts of the Southern Wild teems with gritty life, and close ups of crabs and caterpillars extend Zeitlin's metaphor of community in the universe to even smaller organisms. Hushpuppy knows that even these critters, always "feedin' and squirtin'," play a role in the grand, cosmic scheme of things too. In Beasts of the Southern Wild every little detail, from the brilliant performances to the poignant story to the enchanting imagery, works to create a striking and stunning miracle of filmmaking.
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Director              Benh Zeitlin
Writers               Lucy Alibar and Benh Zietlin
Producers           Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey, and Josh Penn
Cast                     Quvenzhané Wallis and Dwight Henry
Running Time   92 minutes

Moonrise Kingdom


If you like his previous films, chances are you will enjoy Wes Anderson's newest, Moonrise Kingdom, which never strays too far from Anderson's established oeuvre. The story of young love on the fictional island of New Penzance has the overly sylized cinematography, the droll dialogue, and of course, Anderson-favorite Bill Murray. But the film also possesses a fresher touch of whimsy in the perils of seemingly star-crossed Sam (Jared Gilman) and Suzy (Kara Hayward), who run away together in the summer of 1965. Gilman and Hayward offer the highlight of the film against numerous Hollywood heavy hitters, and Moonrise Kingdom succeeds because of the depth of passion in their serious summer love.
Moonrise Kingdom
Director Wes Anderson
Writers Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola
Producers Wes Anderson, Jeremy Dawson, Scott Rudin, and Steven M. Rales
Cast Bill Murray, Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Tilda Swinton, Francis McDormand, Edward Norton, Jason Schwartzman, and Bruce Willis
Running Time 94 minutes

Friday, May 11, 2012

"Here we are, Sunset and Camden!"

The Artist, which emerged from the Cannes Film Festival in 2011 and went on to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards, followed the plight of a silent movie actor during the beginnings of talking pictures by imitating the style of the time period's black-and-white, silent movies. Nearly 60 years earlier, Singin' in the Rain tackled the same transition in film history through a notably different genre: musical comedy.

Now a beloved favorite and critical classic, many viewers, like myself, have enjoyed upon repeated viewings the endearing arrival of Debbie Reynolds,the stirring dances from Gene Kelly, and the lovably funny performance of Donald O'Connor. Not to mention the superb Jean Hagen as the shrill, dumb, and conniving Lina Lemont.

Singin' in the Rain delivers the charming characters, memorable sequences, and endearing plot as expected, but in a strikingly modern, metafilm presentation. If the character Don Lockwood is a hammy actor, Gene Kelly plays him with a knowing wink at his own style. If the fictional movie The Dancing Cavalier needs an excuse to divert to a modern dance sequence, then perhaps Singin' in the Rain uses the same excuse to show off a ballet number with Cyd Charisse. And if Debbie Reynolds as Kathy Seldon exclaims about movies that, "if you've seen one, you've seen them all," the emergence of her character as a closeted fan and aspiring actress reassures you that the cynicism is in jest.

In one stunning sequence, Don pulls Kathy into an empty production studio, using the lights, sets, and effects to create his version of the perfect place to first declare his love for her. The scene first acknowldges for the audience the artificiality of film and then reminds you of its power to create real emotional connections. Singin' in the Rain, like Lina Lemont, is "a shimmering, glowing star in the cinema firmament" that reminded me why I love movies as I begin my experiences at the 65th Cannes Film Festival.