BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (2013)0

Written by Yue Jie

Directed by: Benh Zeitlin
Genre: Drama/Fantasy
Running time: 93 min­utes
Classification: PG13 – Some Coarse Language and Disturbing Scenes
Release date: 31 January 2013
Rating: 4/5

“The whole uni­verse depends on every­thing fit­ting together just right. If one piece busts, even the small­est piece, the whole uni­verse will get busted.”

It is not often that indie films tackle issues of hard­ship and human­ity and even less so for get­ting the crit­i­cal acclaim that this film has gar­nered. First-time direc­tor Benh Zeitlin makes his foray into film­mak­ing with his debut fea­ture, Beasts of the Southern Wild, that you will have to see to believe and believe to feel the emo­tional impact that it has to offer. Having swept awards first at the Cannes and Sundance Film Festivals and then across the globe, this sur­prise hit digs deep into life and its mean­ing with matu­rity despite hav­ing a six-year-old as the protagonist.

A young and deter­mined Quvenzhané Wallis stars as “Hushpuppy” — her real name unknown, or per­haps she actu­ally is “Hushpuppy” – and resides on an island off the coast of Louisiana bay­ous called “The Bathtub”, a third-world com­mu­nity that lives on any­thing that they can scav­enge from their sur­round­ings. Dwight Henry plays Wink, Hushpuppy’s drunk­ard father with a largely prim­i­tive behav­iour who tries to teach Hushpuppy to be obe­di­ent and lis­ten to him as he does his best to pro­vide for her in every way he can.

As Hushpuppy’s age sug­gests, she is nat­u­rally igno­rant and stub­born and at one point chooses to set her house on fire by a boil­ing pot of water just so she can get Wink’s atten­tion. Wink arrives, brings her to safety and Hushpuppy punches him in the chest and he col­lapses. Next, ice glac­i­ers fall apart and melt due to cli­matic change and Aurochs start to roam Earth, giv­ing a depic­tion that Hushpuppy imag­ines her­self fight­ing for inde­pen­dence in a hos­tile envi­ron­ment with­out know­ing the per­ils of life that await her in the future.

One night, a hur­ri­cane hits The Bathtub and the father-daughter pair find them­selves stranded in their vil­lage at dawn. They move off to learn of other sur­vivors and together, they live under a shel­ter. Beasts of the Southern Wild is shown from Hushpuppy’s per­spec­tive, and when the adults teach her to cut and con­sume raw meat, Hushpuppy is forced to learn and tri­umphs, much to everyone’s applause and her sur­prise. It is in such sce­nar­ios where Hushpuppy is forced to open up, to learn how to adapt the hard way and realise the harsh real­ity of life.

Wink’s third-world mind­set and fear of change pre­vents him from seek­ing treat­ment at a hos­pi­tal after enforce­ment offi­cers find him and oth­ers injured in the shel­ter. Huddled with kids of her age, Hushpuppy wit­nesses Wink as he strug­gles to avoid help from doc­tors and cre­ates a fuss when spo­ken to. At the right moment, Wink escapes from the hos­pi­tal with Hushpuppy and other chil­dren that fol­low unknow­ingly, telling her “it is a dan­ger­ous place.”

As Wink even­tu­ally suc­cumbs to his injuries, Hushpuppy is left to live on her own. Through her expe­ri­ences and con­flicts with her inner self, she grows stronger and read­ily accepts what life has to offer with res­olute. At her ten­der age, Wallis dis­plays an extra­or­di­nary tal­ent and an uncanny abil­ity to under­stand the depth of Zeitlin’s script as she gives off a strik­ing performance.

Though the screen­play is adapted from the play Juicy and Delicious by Lucky Alibar, also co-screenwriter along­side Zeitlin, there is no nar­ra­tive that Zeitlin adheres strictly to in this coming-of-age story. Beasts of the Southern Wild makes no effort to impress either, let­ting the char­ac­ters’ actions speak for them­selves. It is part fan­tasy, part real­ity and dwells in the mys­tery of life, giv­ing you the option of embrac­ing it.

Nominated for four Oscars — Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay – at the 85^th Academy Awards along­side the likes of Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln (2012), Beasts of the Southern Wild cer­tainly throws Zeitlin into the spot­light for being one of the best indie films ever made. Being the youngest nom­i­nee ever, Wallis no doubt deserves her nom­i­na­tion for Best Actress too. The strong mes­sage on the fight for sur­vival is a topic rarely touched upon, espe­cially for a direc­to­r­ial debut. On top of that, to have a trio of new­com­ers make the helm and lead cast pose a great risk for Zeitlin, but a risk well taken nonetheless.

Beasts of the Southern Wild opens exclu­sively at Filmgarde Cineplexes on 31 January 2012!

Check out the trailer below!