It has been two weeks since we saw
Beasts of the Southern Wild. After a long satisfying visit to The
Visions of Arcadia show at the
art museum showcasing master canvases by Matisse, Gaugin and Cezanne, we strolled through town to see the movie on a whim. It was almost too much to handle in one weekend. The giant canvases of the bathers representing heaven on earth juxtaposed with the primal life of Hushpuppy and her band of outcasts in the wilds of Louisiana threw me over. The movie is gorgeous, and the intense beauty of the Eden that the characters inhabit is almost hard to watch--when I am reading, I can take the intensity a small dose at a time, my choice. But with this movie, I found myself wanting to replay bits to savor the lush cinematography, to get a better look at Hushpuppy, her dad, her school, her trailer, the aurochs. At the same time, the harshness of the environment--socially, physically-is impossible to absorb from my upper middle class perch, and I spent half of the film wanting to look away. The power of the hurricane reminded me of Katrina, of course, but I also found myself remembering the terrible storm of
Their Eyes Were Watching God that propels Janie's life into a new chapter in the most terrifying ways. We are each of us beasts, after all. Hushpuppy knows that instinctively.
Hushpuppy lives on an outlaw island-the "bathtub"- in the bayou outside the levee's protection with her sickly father and a ragtag band of independent souls. Their days are spent scavenging for what they need, jimmying with the garbage that surrounds them to accomplish simple everyday tasks. But there is a nobility and power in their lives, which sets the viewer up to believe that Hushpuppy lives to understand life the way all animals do--she searches for her momma and she unconsciously knows that her father is sick and might leave her. As a deadly hurricane approaches, her dreams become nightmares of ancient aurochs who threaten to destroy her fragile world. There is an epic journey, and a hero's pyre. Hushpuppy will triumph?
