Beasts of the Southern Wild (DVD REVIEW)
Beasts of the Southern Wild
DVD
Review by Kam Williams
Naïve Waif Laments Climate Change in Surreal Cautionary Tale
6
year-old Hushpuppy
(Quvenzhané Wallis) is being raised under the
radar in “The Bathtub,” a backwoods bayou located on the swamp side of a Louisiana levee. The
self-sufficient tomboy divides her days between attending to her sickly father
(Dwight Henry) and living in harmony with a handful of other hardy refugees
from civilization.
Hushpuppy
feels sorry for children growing up on land in nearby New Orleans because they eat fish wrapped in
plastic and have been taught to fear the water. And while those city kids were
caged in strollers and baby carriages during their formative years, she’s been
free to explore surroundings teeming with vegetation and a menagerie of
wildlife.
Yet,
her existence is far from idyllic, given how much she pines for the mother her
ostensibly-widowed daddy says simply “swam away” one day. The heartbroken
little girl tries to fill the void via flights of fancy coming courtesy of a
vivid imagination that enables her to carry on imaginary conversations with her
long-lost mom.
Hushpuppy’s
vulnerability is further amplified by her father’s failing health and by an
ominous foreboding that climate change could destabilize the eco-system of her
natural habitat. For, she’s been warned by Miss Bathsheeba (Gina Montana), a
sage soothsayer who also serves as her surrogate mother that “The trees are
gonna die first, then the animals, then the fish.”
So
unfolds Beasts of the Southern Wild, a compelling parable marking the extraordinary directorial debut
of Benh Zeitlin. Considerable credit must go to newcomer Quvenzhané Wallis, a
talented youngster who not only portrays protagonist Hushpuppy but narrates the
film as well.
Like
a clever cross of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn and Al Gore’s An Inconvenient
Truth, the movie repeatedly reminds us of a pre-pollution, pre-digital era when
children were still encouraged to plunge headlong into nature to experience the
world firsthand rather than artificially through electronic stimuli.
A
visually-enchanting fantasy shot from the perspective of a naïve waif miraculously
untainted by civilization.
Excellent
(4 stars)
Rated PG-13 for profanity, mature themes, child imperilment, disturbing images
and brief sensuality.
Running time: 91
minutes
Distributor: 20th
Century Fox Home Entertainment
Blu-ray/DVD
Combo Pack Extras: Auditions; The Aurochs; “Glory at Sea,” an original short
film; deleted scenes with director’s commentary; “The Making of” documentary;
digital copy; music featurette; and more.
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