Excuse me while I dry my red, puffy eyes. I've been crying for an hour and 31 minutes. That's the running time for Beasts of the Southern Wild, a fantastical yet gritty drama about a little girl who lives in "the bathtub," an area in New Orleans that wavers on becoming fully submerged in water due to natural disasters.
Hush Puppy (amazing name) is played by Quvenzhane Wallis whose performance is breathtaking. Her deep-set brown eyes told the emotions for her. She was endearing, vulnerable, and strong all at the same time. I'm not sure if this was a mixture of Benh Zeitlin's directing and her acting, or if it's due to the fact that she is a New Orleans native, and not an actress riddled down by methods and styles of performance. Hushpuppy's father, Wink, played by Dwight Henry, was also impeccably true to life. This is probably because, he has never acted before!
I went to the screening at the Landmark that had a Q+A afterwards, and Dwight spoke of being discovered in his bakery. He rejected the role three times because he needed to provide for his family, through his business, and when he finally conceded, he had to rehearse over baking pastries into the wee hours of the morning. This story sounds like a fairytale, but it happened, and I think the proof is in the pudding (that's a good pun, right there). His performance was so raw and real, not something an actor who was trying could bring to life.
Aside from the emotional, engaging performances, the actual storytelling was daring and captivating. The film was a blend of fantasy/imagination and realism all through the eyes of a little girl in a very precarious living situation. It's a story of longing, and that's something everyone can relate to. Hush Puppy just wants to find her mother, she wants her father to hug her, she wants to be a man (her idea of being strong). I especially loved the attention to detail, particularly in terms of character. My favorite trait was when Hush Puppy would listen to the heart beat of every living thing, she even tries to find the heart beat in a leaf.
There were a few elements of the film that I think needed to be fleshed out a little more. The beast as a character was not as rounded out, as I thought it could have been. The beast was a symbol, but for what exactly? Was the beast a symbol of Hush Puppy's absent mother? Was the beast a symbol of her internal conflict that she had to face head on? Was the beast the external storm or the storm within her? It wasn't clear, and I think it could have been woven throughout the story a little better. The VFX were also a little shoddy, which took me out of the story.
The structure was something I liked and didn't like about this film. I liked it because it was bold. Most movies seems to follow the same formula: Beginning, Middle, Climax, End with Resolution, or some form. Where other films can be graphed with a line, this story to me was like a big scribbled blob of emotion. I liked that it dared to be different, but it also felt like things just happened, and I wasn't sure of anything at the end. Was Hush Puppy going to be okay? What was going to happen next? It wasn't a complete enough ending, for me. But I am happy that a movie that is so well recognized and well received, does not fit "the formula" because it opens more doors for filmmakers and writers.
Overall, I think Beasts of the Southern Wild is a must see. It's emotional, in tune, sensitive, creative, and beautiful. I really loved it. And it inspired me, greatly.
Learn more about Beasts of the Southern Wild here: http://www.beastsofthesouthernwild.com/
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