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BotSW has a sense of originality to it that doesn't involve something flashy or gimmicky, which is I think a rare feat in cinema. Visually it balances this odd sense of garbage/dirtiness with beauty/fantasy. I found this to be rather striking and worked in the film's favour. We see the beauty through the eyes of the little girl aka Hushpuppy, who lives in the "Bathub" which is a place people are refusing to leave despite the dangers of flooding taking their homes. That POV can be a little distracting at times because we can low level shaky-cam techniques than can be more distracting than artistically relevant.
Quvenzhané Wallis Wallis delivers a rather honest performance and she works well with Dwight Henry who plays her father. Children in movies are a tough sell because it is so easy for them to be annoying little brats. The one question I do tend to bring up with child actors though is can they continue to do this or are they a one-trick pony? This is specific to new-comers. Wallis hasn't had too much of a career after Beasts, she starred in the stinker Annie and the gut-wrenching 12 years a slave, which I don't even remember her role in. What can she do when she is older and loses that sense of innocence that young children have?
I loved the music, specifically the toe-tapping opening bit. The sheer fun these characters have in the opening is contagious and I really dug the fantasy element that emerges from the story. The film does drag a bit in places, which stalls some enjoyment from it. at 93 minutes, this film should fly by, but it doesn't.
Beasts of the Southern Wild
BotSW has a sense of originality to it that doesn't involve something flashy or gimmicky, which is I think a rare feat in cinema. Visually it balances this odd sense of garbage/dirtiness with beauty/fantasy. I found this to be rather striking and worked in the film's favour. We see the beauty through the eyes of the little girl aka Hushpuppy, who lives in the "Bathub" which is a place people are refusing to leave despite the dangers of flooding taking their homes. That POV can be a little distracting at times because we can low level shaky-cam techniques than can be more distracting than artistically relevant.
Quvenzhané Wallis Wallis delivers a rather honest performance and she works well with Dwight Henry who plays her father. Children in movies are a tough sell because it is so easy for them to be annoying little brats. The one question I do tend to bring up with child actors though is can they continue to do this or are they a one-trick pony? This is specific to new-comers. Wallis hasn't had too much of a career after Beasts, she starred in the stinker Annie and the gut-wrenching 12 years a slave, which I don't even remember her role in. What can she do when she is older and loses that sense of innocence that young children have?
I loved the music, specifically the toe-tapping opening bit. The sheer fun these characters have in the opening is contagious and I really dug the fantasy element that emerges from the story. The film does drag a bit in places, which stalls some enjoyment from it. at 93 minutes, this film should fly by, but it doesn't.