27 January 2018

Deeds

Mudbound


Jennie Tonic will tell you that this was the best film of 2017 (though is "film" even the right word for something that has been impossible for the vast majority of moviegoers to see on a screen bigger than the ones in their homes?), and I hereby invite her to tell you why, in the form of a comment.

For me, no, but it certainly is the best 2017 motion picture I've watched in the bunker because I couldn't see it elsewhere. It is also one of the most powerful films of the year, and maybe the most uncomfortable-making film about race in a year when that topic repeatedly made us squirm in our theater seats.

So why not a contender for me? Too much we've seen before, too much we see coming, too much that seems to come from lobbying for morality at the expense of telling the story. Still, merited Oscar nominations for cinematographer Rachel Morrison (if it looks that good on a 51" Vizio, imagine how good it could look . . . OK, I'll dismount that hobbyhorse) and Mary J. Blige, and a nod would not have been out of place for Jason Mitchell, whose back-from-WWII Ronsel is the moral center of the story. Absolutely robbed was the editing team: sudden cuts between the stories of poor black families and poor white families leave us often momentarily--and usefully--confused about which story we're in. A device that would be off-putting if overused instead helps tell the story.

1 comment:

Jennie Tonic said...

Well, I think a strong argument could made for The Shape of Water as best pic, for its originality and very large heart. But as for Mudbound: Yes, it's extremely powerful--a woman in my row ran desperately out of the theater during the most brutal scene. But I think it goes beyond some of the other devastating presentations of race-based atrocity in showing how mean and pathetic (and mudbound) the lives of the white people are--and not just the vile father but the young woman who takes for granted that Hap's family is there to serve them when needed.

Yes, we've seen this before, but I would argue that we haven't seen it enough, especially stories of the post-slavery era. And the fact that we see what's coming, to me, is a manifestation of the dread that comes from Hap's family knowing they are never safe. So to me the predictability was part of the point. And because it was so emotionally gripping, it worked.

But then, I saw it on a big screen! You'll be missed, Lincoln Plaza.