The Beast of the Southern Wild

For my class Ollywood I was assigned to choose between five films to watch and write about the production design- the sets,costumes, and props of the film as well as identify the protagonist, antagonist, and other plot elements. I chose to critique the film  Beasts of the Southern Wild. I really liked the movie because it showed the positive things a child can do. I think that is very interesting that the movie was directed by someone who got inspired of the Hurricane Katrina.

Beasts of the Southern Wild is a film directed by Benh Zeitlin. The movie was filmed in Louisiana and released in the year of 2012. Young Hushpuppy lives with her father Wink in a little community on water with a small group of neighbors. Hushpuppy is only six years old and is curious about her mother who is missing, but is maybe alive somewhere. Wink is the only thing she has right now, but he’s extremely sick and is an alcoholic Hushpuppy is the protagonist of the film, and one of the quotes that best represents her character is when HUshpuppy says, “The whole universe depends on things fitting together just right.” I liked this quote because for her to be six and actually speaking this is pretty impressive; she seems to know a lot like an adult. The antagonists of the movie are the aurochs and the storm.It clearly has the residents on edge, as one. The little boy warned the others“ The storm is coming, the storm is coming, the storm is coming.”

Hushpuppy wants to find her mother and spend more time with her father, Wink. She tries to understand why her father acts the way he acts and what’s wrong with him. She questions herself about why her father doesn’t seem to want to be with her and pushes her away. She tries to understand him and talk to him but he’s always busy drinking and barely has time. She wants her father to stay healthy and be there with her. But, there’s a problem that happens. The storm get overly aggressive and floods the town, affecting a lot of the people in their own households. This storm infected most of the animals, leaving the people in the town to starve.  Hushpuppy’s desire is to leave on an adventure to find her mother. She wants to find out if her mother is still somewhere alive. She carries the hope with her even when her father tells her that she’s dead.  Meanwhile, the antagonists - the aurochs and the storm -  lead to the destruction of people, houses and constantly threaten the other characters and take over of Bathtub make Bathtub as their environment the entire community of the Bathtub.

The director, Zeitlin, was inspired to make the sets of Beasts after the crisis of Hurricane Katrina. That hurricane struck the Bahamas before passing to Southern Florida, then to the Gulf of Mexico and the southeast of Louisiana in late August of 2005. It caused severe destruction and left a lot of people injured, dead, and homeless. Beasts shows the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina through the sets and costumes. For example, the houses in the Bathtub were destroyed, garbage was floating on everywhere on the water, there weren’t enough animals to feed on just everything was a disaster from the beginning of the film . The characters who lived in the Bathtub wore the same clothes again and again -- often they were ripped, worn out, too-big boots and shoes. The outfits that the characters wore actually fitted with their personality it makes people think about who the person is.

Hushpuppy now knows that her father is ill and is soon going to die. The only way to not stay alone is to go on an adventure to find her dead mother. Hushpuppy and her friends, leave the hospital and make her company as she tries to find her mother.The scene that most stood out to me was was the ending of the film. The scene is when Hushpuppy’s father dies and Hushpuppy sets him on fire on the car boat onto the water. It really shows the courage, bravery and strength to actually do what she did. She now has to face the real world, being an orphan, also with the Aurochs taking over is a big deal for her. Not only that she’s an orphan but she also has her fathers neighbors that were his close friends. Hushpuppy now is on her own with no family.

Stolz, Kit. Meet the future, little girl. 2014.