Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by tinear (A) on January 29, 2010 at 09:33:29

2007. Why "American?" Well, some films epitomize a culture perfectly and this one does: the poor rural, agricultural South, in this specific case, a small town in SE Arkansas.
The death of an old man brings to his funeral the three estranged sons from his first failed marriage whose angry speech directed at the coffin enrages the sons of his last family. The dead man had deserted his first wife soon after the birth of the last son, leaving them in misery and with deep and painful scars from his heavy drinking. But over the years, he had quit drinking, found religion, and became a successful farmer, bequeathing the business only to his latest children. The film carefully shows their life in glaring contrast to the fish-hatchery and slacker futures of the older family's siblings.
At the funeral, the disrespect and resulting clash ignites a feud which accelerates into more and more violent confrontations until they finally explode into homicide.
First time director Jeff Nichols (though he is relatively old-handed in short film direction) shows patience and originality--- and he made a fine decision in casting future Academy Award nominee Michael Shannon ("Revolutionary Road") as the eldest brother toiling in a fish farm slough in the summer heat as he seeks to win back the wife who has left him, disgusted over his failings.
But this film is really about family, and how danger can unite them in evil pursuits. What does a man do when his brother is killed, in cold blood?
The US has the highest, by far, murder rate of any developed country on earth, equalled only by two vastly poorer nations. This film isn't political, at all, but it provides some interesting insights into why this may have come to pass.
With "Bubble," from Stever Soderbergh, "Shotgun Stories" ascends to a prominent position among films which show unflinching portraits of the America the midddle-class is all too eager to forget.