Beasts of the Southern Wild

"I see that I am a little piece of a big, big universe, and that makes it right.




"My wife and kids are out of town for a whole month. That leaves me with a lot of extra time. So for the first weekend alone I decided to go catch a movie that I head heard great things about and wanted to see it before it left the theaters. The film, Beasts of the Southern Wild, was a winner at Sundance and at Cannes. It is a truly beautiful movie.


Hushpuppy, played by newcomer Quvenzhane, is a six year old girl who lives in place nicknamed "The Bathtub." it is by the levee just outside New Orleans. She lives with her father Wink in a make shift house and they live off the land raising chickens for dinner and eating the fish. Her mother "swam away" when she was a baby. Leaving her with her father. she is not self sufficient and find herself causing accidents, but Hushpuppy has a gift. She can hear the animals heartbeat and it speaks to her.


The film is about hurricane Katrina and what it did to this little family. The brilliant part about it is that you never hear to it being referred as a hurricane. Instead, you see the hurricane through Hushpuppys eyes. We watch as her father, a bit drunk, make a stand during the storm and vows to stay no mater what even when the relief efforts come.


Beasts is shot with hand held cameras and from a low vantage point really making you feel like a child without you realizing it. The music in the film was amazing. The music could not have been more perfect for the film. A great blend of bayou music and a film score. I won't say I cried in the film, but it was a very emotional film. It was not as heavy as others, but enough to make you think and feel good. Some of the scenes at the end with "The Beasts" where quite beautiful.


I hope many people get to discover this hidden treasure. It was one of the best films I have seen in a long time. This will be my favorite undiscovered film of the year for sure. I hope to see it again. There is a line at the end of the film that sticks with me and haunts me at the same time. In a wonderful scene Hushpuppy and her friends are dancing with some women and she says:
"I can count the number of times someone has lifted me. I can count the number of times someone has lifted me on two fingers."


9.7 out of 10!!!