I’ve seen plenty of movies set on distant planets, but few of them have transported me as does this invented mythology set in coastal Louisiana. The story is told by a six-year-old girl named Hushpuppy, who lives with her father on an islet that’s almost equally land and sea, and looks, from a distance, like squalor. Now, a small community (black and white) scavenges and fishes, and drinks, in the case of Hushpuppy’s father. But some day soon, Hushpuppy’s narration tells us, “Water’s gonna rise, and there ain’t gonna be no bathtub.”
The setup suggests a
story that seems writ on a large canvas. I elsewhere heard the picture
compared to Tree of Life. But this movie lacks both the pretentiousness
and the
grandeur of something like that. Possibly it can be seen as a parable of Hurricane Katrina and global warming, but doesn’t seem overtly intended as either. Instead, it tells a fairly simple story of what happens to a scruffy but bright girl and her difficult but protective father. Both girl (Quvenzhané Wallis) and father (Dwight Henry) are played by first time actors, and its the first feature for director Benh Zeitlin. The title, evocative if nondescriptive, comes from Hushpuppy’s frequent
visions of large ancient creatures. This fantasy aspect didn’t do much for me, but
the hallucinatory scenes set up a visually arresting scene at the end. On a technical level, this is a very accomplished film. Not a slick one, but authentic, if that word can be used to describe a film about a non-existent place and people.
viewed 6/28/12 7:30 pm at Prince Music Theater and reviewed 8/13/12
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