Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)

Beasts of the Southern Wild was the independent movie darling of 2012. It was the first feature film from director Benh Zeitlin, who made it with a small budget and crew and a cast of unprofessionals. Inspired by a play called Juicy and Delicious, the movie involves a fictional island somewhere beyond New Orleans that its bankrupt fisherman residents affectionately call “the Bathtub.” This little village is completely cut off from the rest of the world, yet its residents are content and even happy with their lives, even when threatened by deadly hurricanes and rising waters. The main character is a troubled little girl named Hushpuppy who lives with her father and has regular correspondence with her deceased mother. This girl has quite the imagination or is functionally insane, I’m not sure which. Most of the movie follows her creation of pretense which she uses to cope with her barren life.

I first saw this movie in theaters last summer and have just watched it again on disc, and I freely admit that I am dumbfounded. The movie is astonishing in good and bad ways. On the one hand, it is incredibly unique. I can say with no hesitation that there is nothing else like it out there and for this reason it is an easy film to root for. With his debut feature, Zeitlin amazes with his ability to compel us with a story that is possibly too bizarre for its own good. There’s the downside, the very probable alienation of most viewers. This is a movie that definitely requires patience and an acceptance that you probably won’t fully understand it. Zeitlin shows us some really weird things without ever offering a reason why. I don’t have a problem with movies that are vague for a purpose, but the confusion here does damage to the overall impact. If after repeat viewings I have no idea whether certain scenes are a real part of a fantasy or stemming from a character’s mind, something has gone amiss and it will only invite frustration with most people.

The thing about Beasts of the Southern Wild that I’m sure is the big reason for its success, and the reason I can still heartily recommend it, is the shockingly great performance from six-year-old Quevanshane Wallis. Now eight, she is the youngest Oscar nominee ever and not without reason. She surprised the crew with her ability to burp on cue and her startling scream has already become infamous. How this little thing can deliver her lines with such mature sincerity and understanding is beyond me, but Wallis out-acts many of her adult peers and it’s an awesome thing to witness.

I admire this movie. How can you not? It’s the success story every filmmaker dreams of: making your first movie one day, getting Academy Award nods the next. The movie is so different and interesting that it deserves attention, but I can’t help keeping it at a distance. As much as I want to like it, I honestly don’t. It never allowed me to become truly invested, not only because it is maddeningly  incoherent, but also because it is borderline unwatchable due to its utilization of that dreaded plague of modern cinema: the unstable, shivering camera that whizzes all over the place and makes everybody puke. The movie could have stood on performance alone. As it is, I would consider it a worthwhile curiosity, a commendable first movie that will hopefully lead to even better things in the future.

8/10