KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

Ceticultsot Beautiful, moving film.

Curt Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

taranpannu01 So I'm reviewing this movie 4 years after it's release. I did not see it 4 years ago, I saw it tonight on TV. (27/12/16). The reviews for this film are amazing, 86% on rotten tomatoes. 7.3 on IMDb. 4/4 by Roger Ebert. So why did I not enjoy as everyone else did? As always, a pro's and con's list.PROS -Dwight Henry is mind blowing in this film. He had me captivated, scared, sorrowful and was in my opinion much better then Quvenzhane Wallis, who was good too, but Dwight Henry deserved an Oscar Nomination much more then her.The Music is outstanding, emotional and filled with triumph and woe. Outstanding. Once again an Oscar Nomination would've been nice.Originality, this movie certainly is original. Balancing old filming techniques (We'll get to some of them later) with an original script to keep it leveled.Overall these three pro's allowed this film to get a 6 in my books, now onto the cons.CONS -Shaky cam. Oh my god the shaky cam was unreal. At first I enjoyed then my eyes hurt then I felt sick. I was actually glad the channel I was watching it on had ads, I needed a break from that shaky cam.Confusion. Now maybe I'm dumb or didn't understand the film. But a lot of it had me confused. Why and how did Hushpuppy and the other kids get to the boat. Why were they going to a small town with a brothel?. How did they get back? What was the point of that whole bit. I was very confused at this. I think I will need to watch it a second time.Underwhelming. The reviews for this called it a "masterpiece" a "cinematic triumph". Now I DID shed a tear at one point. When Wink and Hushpuppy share final words brought me to a tear or two. But other then that, I didn't feel any emotional connection with THE STORY, not the characters but the Story. Yes they were in a deprived community but I just didn't feel as emotional as some other reviewers did/do.Overall, I have mixed feelings of this film. The story is kind of confusing, some moments are pointless and odd (The point of the Aurochs failed to hit me) yet moments with Dwight Henry and the music lifted me. But I just didn't love it as others did, maybe it was because I did not understand it as well as others. On paper, this sounds like my kind of film and I have been DYING to see it. This film definitely disappointed me, which I am really sad about but it is not by any means a terrible film, I just feel that the reviews and the hype may have been to much and I was just underwhelmed. But my hat goes of to Dwight Henry. Amazing performance, you were robbed of an Oscar my friend.

James Bowman (jbowman-16) What would it be like to live in the middle of a swamp, in a post Katrina or post apocalyptic world? What if you saw this world from the imagination/reality of a child. That's where I arrived when I opened my eyes to the film, Beast of the Southern Wild. The film opens in a celebration with the people of the "Bathtub", a community living in the middle of the Mississippi delta, inside of a levee. This community is a hodgepodge of races, cultures, the eclectic, and the strange. The narrator of this unusual story is Hushpuppy, a tough, spunky, and independent six year old girl, who is raised by her equally tough but slightly off father, Wink.As I watched this film, I couldn't tell where realty crossed to fantasy or when fantasy reawakened again to reality. In between listening to the heartbeat of every animal she came upon, or hand fishing with her father, Hushpuppy envisioned the escape of prehistoric beasts, released from melting polar ice caps. For her, the universe had to always be in balance, and the escape of these beasts represented just that. The film moved as it were visual poetry, weaving in and out of realism and the fantastic mind of a child. I wonder if adults would have the flexibility to still absorb or understand the idealism of such an imagination.For a first time effort, director and writer Benh Zeitlin runs full blast into a visually stunning, epic, and artistic piece. It's also hard to believe that the stars of the film, Dwight Henry(Wink) , and the truly amazing Quvenzhané Wallis(Hushpuppy) were just regular people discovered in Louisiana. This film will either disappoint with its confusion, entrance you with its artistry, or leave you longing to understand its meaning. But whatever you take from this film, I hope that you would appreciate the remarkable talent of Quvenzhané Wallis, in a performance that I hope will be awarded come Oscar time.

jormatuominen Many reviewers have pointed out how truly unique this film is. And it is. Yet there will be quite a few bells ringing if you are an experienced enough movie goer. The director Luis Bunuel would love this film, with it's surreal dialogs and depiction of dirt, muck and various crustaceans milling about and being eaten. The bourgeois were disgusted by all this before WWII and from many reviews of this film it's obvious they still are. I stress the surrealist connection here because it seems to have evaded other reviewers completely. Do yourself a favor and see the films of Bunuel. Back to BotSW, in the mind of the 6-year old Hushpuppy his father's fatal illness, a Katrina-like storm and flood and a planetary climate catastrophe all bind and fold together. Her daddy like other adults in the film live off the grid, evading the law and authorities of any kind in the swamp. There is the feel of a post-apocalypse back- to-low-tech fantasy, except that here all is seen by the eyes of a child AND it's arguably pre-apocalypse or a slow ongoing apocalypse. A kid's Mad Max experience if you like. Cinematography drives this film so it is surprising that it is based on screenwriter Lucy Alibar's own theatrical play. What a versatile author. Admittedly too much hand-held camera-work there, perhaps to point out that there is no longer firm ground after the flood. There is a lot, and I mean a lot of local South Louisiana color. Some of it is pleasant, some repulsive. Joy and horror. Big Chief Al Doucette of Treme fame makes a cameo appearance. There is a most unusual take on the ancient Viking burial rite in the end, just when I thought nothing could surprise me anymore in this film. Yes it has flaws, all well documented here, so 7 out of 10, but the film is an obvious labor of love. The filming process must have been really laborious, everybody literally getting their feet wet, and I for one really respect that.

bowtietrucker1 Beasts of The Southern Wild, was a film, about a community, a community that lived on a partially flooded levy, which they referred to as the "Bathtub". This small town used to serve as an actual city until most of it flooded, and drove away most of the population. A small community is all that remains. Dwight Henry (Character name Wink) was an actor in the film along with Quvenzhané Wallis (Character name Hushpuppy). Wink is Hushpuppy's father; Hushpuppy believes that all living things talk to her through code. She is seen putting her hear up to living animals to hear their heart beat, believing this is them talking to her in code. The theme to this movie seems to be a coming of age theme. Wink explains to Hushpuppy the main reason for living is survival, and that nothing else matters. While Hushpuppy struggles to understand what surviving is, she knows why she has to survive. The lighting had a huge effect on the theme of this movie. Certain scenes depending on the mood of Hushpuppy were dark and gloomy, making Hushpuppy seem sad or lost as in what to do. A good example of this would be the scene when the storm was coming she seemed scared and unsure of what to do. Another technique in the movie was camera angle, as Hushpuppy would stare out into the ocean, the angle would be wide showing her and the wide open ocean. It was as if she had a different calling in life, but was unsure of what it was, or when it would come. She knew there was something out there for her, but being so young she didn't know how to purse what she though was out there. All she knew was that in order to find what she was looking for, she had to survive.