Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)

Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012), directed by Benh Zeitlin, 4.5 stars

“When you're small you’ve got to fix what you can” – Hushpuppy

Fox Searchlight has a real winner in “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”  The film features a stirring performance by six-year old Quvenzhané Wallis, who plays Hushpuppy, a young girl living with her sickly but stern and stubborn father (Dwight Henry) in the unforgiving marshland somewhere in bayou country on the outskirts of New Orleans.  The story of the impact and aftermath of a fierce tropical storm on a small community dubbed the “Bathtub,” is told from her point of view.  It is also a story of coping with overwhelming loss.  The area has been ravaged.  Nearly all of the homes are either completely submerged or damaged beyond repair.  Those few who have opted not to leave prior to the deluge begin defiantly rebuilding their lives, but then the government intercedes, condemning homes and forcibly evacuating the remaining residents.  Hushpuppy’s world is in upheaval.  Her teacher has warned her and her classmates of the perils of global warming, and the young girl envisions ancient aurochs (forerunners of modern cattle, but depicted in the film as fierce, oversized boars) stampeding into the modern world after being released from a cryogenic state by melting polar icecaps.

Nature plays a palpable part in the film. One can almost smell the stench of rotting animal carcasses, feel the heavy pull of mud under foot, taste the juices flowing from freshly-fished steamed crabs and crawdads. The community depends almost entirely for its livelihood on the whim of natural forces, so it follows that the a close relationship to the environment permeates the entirety of their lives.  Hushpuppy, a precocious, highly-intuitive philosopher, sums it up best. “The whole universe depends on everything fitting together just right.  If one piece busts, even the smallest piece, the entire universe will get busted.”  Her community takes every opportunity to celebrate because it will never acquiesce to the overwhelming force of nature and its cycle of life and death.  As Hushpuppy proudly asserts early on in the film, “the Bathtub has more holidays than the whole rest of the world.”

Although filmed in areas in and within a few hours drive from New Orleans, the movie feels more like the product of a foreign-born director than of a 30-year old from Queens.  In his first feature-length film, Benh Zeitlin has brilliantly captured a world that is alien, out-of-balance (hence, perhaps, the entirely hand-held camerawork), and yet immediately accessible to an audience.  He offers us a glimpse into the heart and soul of humanity everywhere through the eyes of young girl whose observations on survival play out in the most appalling of primitive conditions.  The film has already won several Cannes Film Festival awards as well as the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.  I believe that the film is also destined for similar honors at the next Academy Award celebration.