04-22-2013, 09:45 AM
My sister recommended this film to me. I didn't realized she was being sarcastic at the time. If I could have reached down the phoneline to punch her last night, I would have. Although the little girl who stars as Hush Puppy and whose name I won't even try to spell, was getting such rave reviews and was even up for an Oscar, I wanted to see what the six year old brought to the table.
But as Roberta put it, If you have any love or happiness or lightness of spirit in you, this film will suck it right out of you.
It's tone reminded me a lot of 'The Road', an unrelenting downer. It was the romanticism of squalor. It was like a story set in a particularly bad episode of Hoarders. Just to give you an idea, in one scene Hush Puppy makes a delicious meal of storebrand catfood and campbell's soup.
Part of the problem with the film was that it made the people so stupid. The land the film takes place in off the coast of Lousianna is called the bathtub. It is marginally above sea level. Everybody has their ramshackle homes on stilts. but they are alerted a big storm is coming. Most of the residents, including Hush Puppy and her father, decided to ride the storm out. Naturally, the bathtub gets wiped out. Then rescue workers come to take them to a drier shelter and give them some food. they resist and have to be forcibly removed. I kind of see the point they were trying to make about government interference but I didn't buy it.
The relationship between Hush Puppy and her father is particularly bad. He is abusive to her. He treats her badly in the attempt to make Hush Puppy stronger and self sufficient. Didn't like it. Didn't believe it. Didn't like seeing it.
From a technical standpoint, the film was badly shot. It was grainy because of poor lighting and improper exposure. A lot of shots were out of focus and it was tough to tell if that was an artistic statements or just bad camera work.
It's like the film maker set out to be arty in appeal to critics. I don't mind artistic films but it seemed like that was the focus of the film rather than trying to tell a good story.
Don't get me started on the Aurochs.
But as Roberta put it, If you have any love or happiness or lightness of spirit in you, this film will suck it right out of you.
It's tone reminded me a lot of 'The Road', an unrelenting downer. It was the romanticism of squalor. It was like a story set in a particularly bad episode of Hoarders. Just to give you an idea, in one scene Hush Puppy makes a delicious meal of storebrand catfood and campbell's soup.
Part of the problem with the film was that it made the people so stupid. The land the film takes place in off the coast of Lousianna is called the bathtub. It is marginally above sea level. Everybody has their ramshackle homes on stilts. but they are alerted a big storm is coming. Most of the residents, including Hush Puppy and her father, decided to ride the storm out. Naturally, the bathtub gets wiped out. Then rescue workers come to take them to a drier shelter and give them some food. they resist and have to be forcibly removed. I kind of see the point they were trying to make about government interference but I didn't buy it.
The relationship between Hush Puppy and her father is particularly bad. He is abusive to her. He treats her badly in the attempt to make Hush Puppy stronger and self sufficient. Didn't like it. Didn't believe it. Didn't like seeing it.
From a technical standpoint, the film was badly shot. It was grainy because of poor lighting and improper exposure. A lot of shots were out of focus and it was tough to tell if that was an artistic statements or just bad camera work.
It's like the film maker set out to be arty in appeal to critics. I don't mind artistic films but it seemed like that was the focus of the film rather than trying to tell a good story.
Don't get me started on the Aurochs.
So much for the flickr badge idea. Dammit