I don’t really go to the movies very often. It’s expensive and, really, who has the time? The second to last movie that I went to see was Snow White and the Hunstman, which was a terrible mistake. (It would have been a significantly better experience if I could have just put on earmuffs and watched KStew run around the screen with a sword in her hand.) But last week, my friend lured me out of my apartment and away from the free movies on my computer to see Beasts of the Southern Wild, a film that — at the time — I had never heard of.
Hushpuppy with her dad
Beast of the Southern Wild is a beautifully shot, apocalyptic fable about a young girl named Hushpuppy who lives with her father in a fictional delta inland off the Gulf coast called The Bathtub. Our original impression of The Bathtub from the opening montage is that it is both rich in culture and counterculture. “The Bathtub has more holidays than the whole rest of the world.” Accordingly, Hushpuppy’s world is vibrant and animated. Hushpuppy herself, a precocious child and narrator of the story, finds joy in listening to the heartbeats of living creatures and learning about the great beasts of the past. At the same time, the people who make up the community of The Bathtub are at obvious odds with the people on the mainland on the other side of the levee, whom they have lived in spite of for years. This relationship to the mainland fuels the firey sense of independence that The Bathtub has adopted in order to survive. This idea is the heartbeat of the entire film.
It soon becomes clear that a storm of apocalyptic proportions is moving in on The Bathtub. The mainland has ordered a mandatory evacuation (although that doesn’t become clear until later), but Hushpuppy’s father — who has heart disease — is adamant about staying put: “I’m your daddy, and it’s my job to take care of you, OK?,” he says as he tries to fix rubber floaties to Hushpuppy’s tiny but strong arms. But the truth is is that he can’t. Hushpuppy knows this. Everybody knows this. But what Hushpuppy’s father has instilled in her are the tools with which to take care of herself. He teaches her how to fish, how to shell a crab, and how to be “the man” and “the king of the bathtub.” There is never any question about whether or not it is appropriate for Hushpuppy — a girl — to learn to be a “beast.” She just does.
Hushpuppy beasting on hardshell crabs
And that’s what makes Beasts so different than any other movie I have ever seen. Unlike Snow White, where I kept hoping to see Snow White save herself, in Beasts taking charge of one’s own salvation isn’t a question. It’s a necessity. And Hushpuppy knows this to be true from day one: “Everybody loses the thing that made them. The brave men stay and watch it happen. They don’t run.” Hushpuppy always knows that she is among them, the “brave men.”
Too often in other movies–especially in movies about women–the main plot-advancing sentiment is something like this: “Is she gonna do it? Is she gonna realize that it’s OK to save herself? Or is she gonna sit around waiting for someone else (a man) to save her?” And while this is better than the alternative, female characters who are sitting around waiting for a man to save them from the opening scene, this is not necessarily interesting, progressive, or feminist. (Which is my definition of a movie worth paying for. Word to the Bechdel test.) Because, honestly, the base assumption in our society is still that women don’t know this about themselves. That they need to be reminded that they are capable of doing shit. Usually by a man.
Beasts makes no such assumption, which is why Beasts of the Southern Wild blows every other movie I have ever seen out of the water and you should really go see it.
I saw the trailer for this before Moonrise Kingdom and am pumped for it to come to Nashville (it’ll be a couple weeks, alas). I’m so watching the shit out of this, it looks magical, and damn that little girl is fierce.
yo I just moved to Nashville and also saw the trailor in the Belcourt before moonrise! hugely relieving to see im not the only one in this town on autostraddle. just sayin
An awesome-sounding movie set on the Gulf Coast, and it’s not playing here. Of course. Oh, Panama City, why must you be such a cultural wasteland?
oh, awesome! I want to see this like rightnow! But probably playing only in SF or Marin County or some irritatingly hard to get to place. Bleh.
oh, awesome! I want to see this like rightnow! But probably playing only in SF or Marin County or some irritatingly hard to get to place. Bleh.
Word about Huntsman. I forget that KStew isn’t good at copying normal-people emote(I haven’t learned either, so no judgement!) and thus comes off as very…mmm, wooden? Entrancing, but wooden. And shouty. Not that the movie made any sense on its own, though.
Am I the only one that read the title as “Why You Need To See breasts of the Southern Wild”
I’m sure it was a Freudian shit – I mean slip.
Oh wow, I really do need to see this! I’d never heard of it, but now I’m so excited.
Ahhhhhhhhhh I want to watch it so baaad!!! >.< curse living in Ireland where I probably won't get to watch it at all D:
little girls being strong, already making me cry! this looks amazing.
also i think this review is very well written.
My sister worked on this movie, so I got to see it at the New Orleans premiere. I was basically weeping through the entire thing. Prepare for one of the most moving movie experiences you have had in a long time. And for lots of feelings.
I have been reading about this one for a while. I would like to see it, but I won’t drive two hours for a movie. I will have to hope I remember it when it hits netflix.
I saw this a couple of days ago at the Arclight. It was one of the best films I’ve seen in years. Opening and closing sequence both gave me chills, and I looked up at one point to realize my mouth was open – it literally made my jaw drop.
I got a lady boner when I saw the preview for this. And I mean that in a “I was totally excited way” not a “creepy pedophile cause the main character is a child way”. just to clarify.
This part made me smile so much: “Who da man?” “I’M DA MAN!”
I need to see this.
And this is why I love E Street Cinema in DC: they gets all the Autostraddle-approved films.
Her name is Hushpuppy, guys. Get outta here with that cuteness.
I miss DC. Tell it hello for me!
big hellos back from the white house, dupont circle, and DMV traffic
i have not seen it yet but this movie was made by my friends roommates
I can’t wait to see this movie. It’s been on my radar for awhile now.
I grew up in Louisiana and left there for college two days before Katrina. Seeing neighborhoods, marshes, towns, an entire way of life destroyed by the storm (and Rita a few weeks later) broke my heart. Seeing this movie opened up some of those wounds again, but then healed them back better somehow.
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This looks SO good. I read about it last week in the paper and thought it looked intresting but hadn’t seen the trailer till now. I’m so tempted to drive to San Francisco right now to see it!
Oh, I would love to see this movie.
This is the opening night film at the NZ Film Festival, and i have front row seats booked. Can’t wait!
http://www.nzff.co.nz/auckland/film/5ebad559-724b-4933-8030-f8de3e0a4f93
I saw a trailer for this before Moonrise Kingdom. I’m almost scared to see if because I know I’m going to have all the feelings.
i had all the feelings when i saw it. at first it was hard, but then i got drunk with my friend and it got better. no regrets. none.
A black woman named Bell Hooks gave this film one of the most scathing reviews I’ve ever read:
http://politicalfilm.wordpress.com/2012/09/07/white-people-doing-black-cinema/
i’ve seen this movie and highly recommend it.The idea of the aurochs really catched me.Due to the fact that a whole story was revealed through a child’s eyes when there’s no separation between reality and fantasy.