I'm not sure why Beasts of the Southern wild has connected with critics so much. This is a low-budget film directed by Benh Zeitlin in his debut feature. Movies like this typically find a strong critical reception, but are forgotten come award season in favor of bigger movies from more accomplished people -- this happened to Duncan Jones' excellent Moon in 2009. Sure, Beasts is visually creative, original, and a prime example of how ambition and imagination can overcome a small budget, but movie has some serious problems that can't be ignored. I don't blame the filmmakers intents, clearly a lot of work and heart went in the making of this movie; however, the characterization and storytelling are amateurish.
Beasts has three good things going for it: the score, performances, and the setting. The musical score is truly exceptional, and it might be my favorite of the year. A lot of the film's beauty and style comes from the excellent sound design and music. Much has been made of young Quvenzhané Wallis' performance and rightfully so. This is an incredibly strong performance for somebody so young. The rest of the actors are solid as well. The performances aren't showy but incredibly naturalist and convincing. The setting of the movie, a forgotten area of the southern bayou territory, is wonderfully realized and provides dozens of incredible shots.
Before I get into the problems with narrative, I have to mention the poor use of hand-held photography. I really do not understand where independent filmmakers got the idea that having shaky cam automatically makes their movie somehow more artsy, but Beasts is yet another movie that poorly utilizes the technique, though nothing here is as bad as in Melancholia. Handeld camera-work can work well in the hands of somebody who knows what they are doing -- check out Breaking Bad to see this style perfected. The setting of the film provides many awe-inspiring vistas and landscapes, but the camera can't stop moving long enough for the viewer to fully digest and admire the image, which is truly a shame.
The characterization in Beasts is the weakest area of the film. Though Hushpuppy is a wonderful character and perfectly portrayed by Wallis, the supporting cast isn't up to the same standard. First, I have to question the purpose of writing somebody so young as the main character. I suppose the goal was to see a harsh reality through the eyes of somebody young and innocent, but it is at odds with the movies message: one's culture and family are all important (I'm simplifying the main theme, but I don't want to get into a discussion of the movie's misguided attempt to criticize modern society and civilization, which is embarrassingly handled and even includes stock footage of glaciers breaking apart. Global warming!). However, Hushpuppy is too young to comprehend her own situation. She lives in crushing poverty, her father is an abusive drunk, and her friends and family put her own wellness at risk for the sake of preserving their cancerous lifestyle. The filmmakers want us to stand up and cheer at these people's will to fight the influence of modern society, but I can't help to look in horror as this child is abused and put in constant danger for no real reason. For this reason, any moral ambiguity is left out. Hushpuppy isn't old enough to question her situation. If she was capable to debating about whether to stay in her manner of living or move to a more modern culture and ultimately chose to stay, then the film would have supplied its character with a strong arc. However, Hushpuppy stays because she simply doesn't know any better. This is a problem because our main character is not capable to supplying any dramatic tension or conflict.
Every person in the community, aside from Hushpuppy, is one-dimensional and often an empty husk brought to life simply with southern stereotypes. I don't care about any of them, and I was hoping Hushpuppy could escape this life and find a place where her thoughtfulness and intelligence could be fostered. However, the filmmakers don't see how incredibly contradictory their own film is. Perhaps if this society's way of living was properly explored and the audience given a reason to understand why these people love their way of living so much, then we could sympathize with their plight.
Beasts of the Southern Wild feels like a mishmash of ideas handled better in other films. A young girl dealing with hardship through imagination was better realized in Pan's Labyrinth. A forgotten area of America where young people are trapped is a concept explored in the superior Winter's Bone, partly because that movie doesn't romanticize suffering and poverty, but portrays it in a honest and real way. As a celebration of the United States' unique Southern culture, Treme makes Beasts look like a high school research paper. I'm not saying that Beasts of the Southern Wild has to be the best at what it does, expectations that unreasonable will only lead to disappointment, but I do expect the filmmakers to delivery a story that is consistent with its thematic goals. Beasts fails in this, and the movie is hard to care about and the characters impossible to empathize with.
Beasts has three good things going for it: the score, performances, and the setting. The musical score is truly exceptional, and it might be my favorite of the year. A lot of the film's beauty and style comes from the excellent sound design and music. Much has been made of young Quvenzhané Wallis' performance and rightfully so. This is an incredibly strong performance for somebody so young. The rest of the actors are solid as well. The performances aren't showy but incredibly naturalist and convincing. The setting of the movie, a forgotten area of the southern bayou territory, is wonderfully realized and provides dozens of incredible shots.
Before I get into the problems with narrative, I have to mention the poor use of hand-held photography. I really do not understand where independent filmmakers got the idea that having shaky cam automatically makes their movie somehow more artsy, but Beasts is yet another movie that poorly utilizes the technique, though nothing here is as bad as in Melancholia. Handeld camera-work can work well in the hands of somebody who knows what they are doing -- check out Breaking Bad to see this style perfected. The setting of the film provides many awe-inspiring vistas and landscapes, but the camera can't stop moving long enough for the viewer to fully digest and admire the image, which is truly a shame.
The characterization in Beasts is the weakest area of the film. Though Hushpuppy is a wonderful character and perfectly portrayed by Wallis, the supporting cast isn't up to the same standard. First, I have to question the purpose of writing somebody so young as the main character. I suppose the goal was to see a harsh reality through the eyes of somebody young and innocent, but it is at odds with the movies message: one's culture and family are all important (I'm simplifying the main theme, but I don't want to get into a discussion of the movie's misguided attempt to criticize modern society and civilization, which is embarrassingly handled and even includes stock footage of glaciers breaking apart. Global warming!). However, Hushpuppy is too young to comprehend her own situation. She lives in crushing poverty, her father is an abusive drunk, and her friends and family put her own wellness at risk for the sake of preserving their cancerous lifestyle. The filmmakers want us to stand up and cheer at these people's will to fight the influence of modern society, but I can't help to look in horror as this child is abused and put in constant danger for no real reason. For this reason, any moral ambiguity is left out. Hushpuppy isn't old enough to question her situation. If she was capable to debating about whether to stay in her manner of living or move to a more modern culture and ultimately chose to stay, then the film would have supplied its character with a strong arc. However, Hushpuppy stays because she simply doesn't know any better. This is a problem because our main character is not capable to supplying any dramatic tension or conflict.
Every person in the community, aside from Hushpuppy, is one-dimensional and often an empty husk brought to life simply with southern stereotypes. I don't care about any of them, and I was hoping Hushpuppy could escape this life and find a place where her thoughtfulness and intelligence could be fostered. However, the filmmakers don't see how incredibly contradictory their own film is. Perhaps if this society's way of living was properly explored and the audience given a reason to understand why these people love their way of living so much, then we could sympathize with their plight.
Beasts of the Southern Wild feels like a mishmash of ideas handled better in other films. A young girl dealing with hardship through imagination was better realized in Pan's Labyrinth. A forgotten area of America where young people are trapped is a concept explored in the superior Winter's Bone, partly because that movie doesn't romanticize suffering and poverty, but portrays it in a honest and real way. As a celebration of the United States' unique Southern culture, Treme makes Beasts look like a high school research paper. I'm not saying that Beasts of the Southern Wild has to be the best at what it does, expectations that unreasonable will only lead to disappointment, but I do expect the filmmakers to delivery a story that is consistent with its thematic goals. Beasts fails in this, and the movie is hard to care about and the characters impossible to empathize with.