"Beasts of the Southern Wild" [Review]

Beasts of the Southern Wild is a touching film about a young girl, Hush Puppy, and her father living in a forgotten section of southern coastline: "the Bathtub". Directed by Benh Zeitlin and starring screen newcomers Quvenzhane Wallis and Dwight Henry , the film explores the strained father and daughter relationship that is imposed upon by health issues, harsh living requirements, and impending danger of large boar like beasts.

This film was unlike anything I have ever seen The world that the director and designers created hearkened to present day yet imaginatively could be mildly futuristic. Even more interesting, was the lack of large budget and necessity of resourcefulness shown.

The movie seemed to have an underlying agenda that at times seemed blatantly overt. This message was one of being aware that your involvement with the environment will have lasting effect for generations to come. Ice caps melting and flash flooding were interesting ploys to convey this. However, from a directorial standpoint, it is important to have some take-away for the audience or the audience will be pissed at the ending. (no spoilers) Especially if the ending doesn't sastify the audience expectations. At least a takeaway will be a positive aspect of a film.

Ultimately, I enjoyed the movie and was told an intriguing story with compelling characters. Though, the compelling characters didn't resolve some issues that I had. But then again I think that this type of movies should end with remorseful tearful hugs with a sun setting slowly behind them. It doesn't! (minor spoiler)

"Perfidy" Review

Have you ever seen a movie that was so confusing and frustratingly unsatisfying that you wanted nothing more than to destroy the monitor? Perfidy was that type of movie for me.

We are first introduced to the main character sitting in a train. This introduction takes place after a painfully long stationary shot of a country road in winter time. The man gazes out at the snow on the moving ground. The next shot is the man exiting the train and going to a pay phone clutching a small piece of paper in his hand. The audience then is given another painfully long stationary shot of a hotel in winter.  Finally, a car moves into frame and we can then understand that the main character is going to the hotel.

The above action, though only taking a few lines on this blog, took almost 25 minutes to show on film. I trust that you can appreciate my personal frustration that was mounting with each passing moment.

Before I continue, I suppose I should play “Devil’s Advocate” and say that it was presented to me, via Netflix, to be a mystery/foreign film.  That tells me that I might not understand everything or even appreciate it. However, on the other side of that coin: everything was in English and the “mystery” was simply that some guy (with a slight accent) shot his former gay lover. Sorry, spoiler alert. But trust me; I just saved your very sanity.

In between the excruciatingly long stationary shots were some scenes of interest. One scene started out by the man staring into the lens of the camera lip syncing. But, he mouthed the words to the song- in its entirety. Another scene that stared out interesting was the transformation of the man into a dapper looking gentleman. However, this became exhausting as we actually watched him shave and cut his hair. Yes, you guessed it: he did it slowly.

Finally, as the credits rolled, I unclenched my jaw and cracked my knuckles while releasing an audible exhale. The experience was over. Much like staying awake through extensive dental work, I was now assured that the end had finally come. Perhaps, if the pace or tempo had picked up more or if the stationary shots had been edited to be shorter, it may have been enjoyable. But it wasn't and I am left with more wasted time drained from my very life force.

My next movie is going to have to be a comedy or I may just do bodily harm to a family of mannequins.