Beasts of the Southern Wild, simply put, is the little movie that could. Set in the squalor of a Louisiana bayou lovingly called "The Bathtub" by it's residents, Beasts of the Southern Wild follows the story of a precocious little girl named Hushpuppy, who lives with her hot-tempered and passionate father, Wink. What is important to realise is that this film is based off of a one act play (entitled Juicy and delicious), and so basically the two characters I just mentioned are basically it.
In fact, nearly all of the movie is driven by Hushpuppy, played by the one and only Quvenzhané Wallis.
What a name, and what a performance. Kwuh-ven-zhu-nay. The now nine-year old Oscar nominee was only six during the making of the film, and was only five when she auditioned, lying about her age and then beating out thousands of others for a role that I cannot imagine being given to anyone else. It is this wonderful child that narrates the film, telling us all about the world she lives in. This is the unbridled world of a child with much to be sad about; a mother who left the area long ago, a father that is slowly but surely dying , right along with her beloved "Bathtub", largely ignored and then harrowingly misunderstood by the "dry-landers"- you and I. But Hushpuppy isn't sad but strong, encouraged by her father, who realises that his daughter must soon learn to survive without him.
The film is powerful without ever really ever trying to be at any point. Hushpuppy guides us through "The Bathtub" and its inhabitants, the majority of which are all played by local actors and amateurs. The Bathtub itself is wonderfully constructed- all the people partaking in large block parties known as "holidays", and we're presented with a strength of community that is meant to teach us something about our own. Hushpuppy feels sorry for us, saying we clearly don't have enough holidays. The people of The Bathtub are no fools- they see the rising waters of a warmer world, the salt water that accompanies storms and kills animals, but they are resolute to carry on with their way of life with grit and determination, something that Wink works hard to instill in our Hushpuppy, albeit in non-conventional ways.
There is almost nothing I hate more than movie reviewers who say things like "I fell out of my seat laughing", because those are things almost no one actually does during a movie. Crying especially seems to be something that you are encouraged to say you did if you watched a film that made you feel at all emotional. But something about Beasts of the Southern Wild made me vulnerable; watching Hushpuppy's attitude towards her father's illness took me back to my own childhood. Memories of throwing mini-tantrums in Grandad's living room while he laughed heartily at my indignation before coughing in a way only someone who has smoked for more than thirty years can. Memories of putting my head to his chest and feeling the steady beat of life, not knowing then that it would be that mighty heart that would be his end. But perhaps I have mislead you ; Beasts of the Southern Wild is not sad so much as it is triumphant and defiant. In the closing scene Hushpuppy reminds us that she and her story are going nowhere, and when you're being played by someone named Quvenzhané Wallis, that's not a bad assumption to make.
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