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
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