Shotgun Stories

[stevo3001]

I don't see a thread for, or even mention of, this film elsewhere. This is a movie that I just can't get out of my head. I love everything about it. I love the simplicity and mythic resonance of the storytelling. I love that the instigator looks like Corey off Trailer Park Boys and causes serious problems in every scene he's in. I love that the father couldn't even be bothered to give the first set of Hayes boys real names. I love Kid's criticism of Boy's basketball coaching performance ('every time I see you play, the other team always seems to be shooting layups'). I love the long shot of Stephen Hayes and his tractor. I love that the leader of the hero brothers makes bad decisions and the leader of the 'villain' brothers makes good ones, and yet Son is still a hero. I love every time the first set of Hayes boys interact with their mother. I love the fact that it's inspired by a Driveby Truckers song. And most of all I love Son Hayes' speech at his father's funeral. (And what happens when he is asked if he thought saying those things was wise; 'doesn't matter').

Who else has seen it and what do you think?

[thracian dawg]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f5/Shotgun_stories.jpg

I enjoyed it. There's kind of brooding tension that permeates the entire film. The three brothers walk and talk real slow; no excess information is ever asked for and none is supplied. The only time Son (Michael Shannon) gets articulate is when they crash their father's funeral and he tells everyone what he thought of the SOB. For his brothers, the old man was a violent alcoholic---but he found religion and with his second family he became a decent hard working family man. His four half brothers from the other family take offense at his outburst.

I actually loved the glimpse at poverty here---it's almost third world, but because mostly everyone has access to a truck, they at least they have the illusion of the open road to opportunities.

[mark f]

Here's what I said about it in the movie tab two years ago. Of course since then. Nichols and Shannon teamed up for Take Shelter which raised the ante a bit.

Shotgun Stories (Jeff Nichols, 2008) http://www.movieforums.com/images/popcorn/3box.gif - Here's a surprisingly-evocative and beautifully-photographed film about a feud between two sides of the same family. A man has three sons by his first wife, but after he leaves that family, he remarries and has four sons with another woman. The man has just died, and his oldest son (a terrific Michael Shannon) causes a scene at the funeral which results in the younger set of brothers basically challenging the older boys to a "war" which escalates in horrifically-violent ways. The film is reminiscent of producer David Gordon Green's rustic style but I find it far-more involving and actually almost worthy of being compared visually more to Terrence Malick. This is a low-key film which sneaks up on you as it moves along.

[John-Connor]

Michael Shannon's Closet Picks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ewx-oog2kmQ