Best Picture Nominees — "Beasts of the Southern Wild"

The Academy Awards — perhaps the best award show of the year — is less than two weeks away. In preparation, I will be recapping all the Best Picture nominees and (eventually) making picks. Get excited people.

Beasts of the Southern Wild
Starring: Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry, and Levy Easterly
Nominated For: Best Picture, Best Director (Behn Zeitlin), Best Actress (Wallis), Best Adapted Screenplay (Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar)
Synopsis: This was the indie darling of 2012. It was made with little budget (estimated at $1.8 million), by a first-time filmmaker, and featuring no known performs. It's set in a little, impoverished area near New Orleans and doesn't feel totally connected to reality. Most descriptions refer to it as a post-apocalyptic world, which could be true, but it feels more like it's grounded in a fantasy world of the characters' own choosing. This is a film that seems to want to take on some big issues, but doesn't do it in a totally coherent way. It seems to be striking out against the kind of poverty and class warfare that threaten to destroy our nation. It seems to want to make a statement about environmental concerns that could lead to more, and larger, natural disasters. It seems to want to make a statement about the nature of joy and freedom — that they aren't derived solely from worldly possession and your station in life. And it does it all through the eyes of a child. That's an admirable goal. And, again, independent films thrive because they aren't forced to fit the mold of our conventional styles of storytelling. I applaud that kind of creativity and narrative freedom. But there is something about "Beasts of the Southern Wild" that doesn't work for me. It just doesn't achieve its points with the kind of clarity I think is needed. Wallis does an admirable job of carrying the film — especially when one considers she was just 6-years-old at the time. But I also find her nomination for Best Actress curious. This was a great year for films, full of rich performances. I can't help but wonder if half the novelty of this performance doesn't come from the age of the performer and not the work itself. In fact, what's most remarkable about Wallis' work seems to be her age. The same goes for Zeitlin. There are some beautiful shots in this film, and some good work done. And it's impressive that at 30 he's made a film that touched so many people. But when you consider the great work done by those left off the nominees list — including Director's Guild of America and Golden Globe winner Ben Affleck — it's hard to see how this was better or more deserving. I applaud what this film is trying to do, but I just don't even think it was the best little indie film of the year. If we're going to go out and laud films that step out of the mainstream, why not pick "Moonrise Kingdom," which had far more heart and coherency of narrative? This remains a curious choice to me, but that's in keeping with the ever fickle Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Rating: PG-13 for thematic material including child imperilment, some disturbing images, language and brief sensuality.
Verdict: Two stars out of Four