#ben zeitlin

[moviepocketblog]

Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin, 2012)

[sarah-bnh]

When it all goes quiet behind my eyes, I see everything that made me lying around in invisible pieces. When I look too hard, it goes away. And when it all goes quiet, I see they are right here. I see that I'm a little piece in a big, big universe. And that makes things right. When I die, the scientists of the future, they're gonna find it all. They gonna know, once there was a Hushpuppy, and she live with her daddy in the Bathtub.

Beasts of the Southern Wild, Ben Zeitlin

[directorsnarrative]

Movies You Should See #2: Beasts of the Southern Wild • director Ben Zeitlin

Quite frankly, this film is on the list because it was one of the best films of 2012,and had one of the most powerful lead performances of any film that year - and it was delivered by a six year old.

In Beasts of the Southern Wild fantasy and reality collide for young Hushpuppy who lives in the swamps of Louisiana, known as The Bathtub, in a shack with her father.  Their community is a strong one filled with eccentric souls and when they are told they are living in a flood zone and need to evacuate a core group, including Hushpuppy and her father, refuse.  The Bathtub floods, and Hushpuppy foresees an apocalyptic world where beasts from old are reawakened and journeying to set down upon them.

I cannot sing the praises of this film enough.  It was a hit at Sundance, and I waited anxiously for it to come to the independent theaters around the country so I could finally see it.  I loved it immediately and yet I never expected the film to gain the acclaim it did, eventually gaining nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.  I literally shrieked with excitement when I saw the nominations.

My favorite things about this movie cannot be separated - Hushpuppy and her fantastic world.  Making a film that requires a child in the lead role is incredibly hard - making a fantastic drama is even harder.  Your lead actor can cause your movie to live or die with their performance, even if you have the best script possible, and when you add the fact that your lead is a child on top of this the working restrictions increase exponentially.  Child actors can only work a few hours a day, must be provided with schooling, and must always have a parent present just to name a few of the immediate challenges that arise - what if your child actor can't read yet?  

At an age that hadn't yet hit double digits, Quvenzhane Wallis answered every need Ben Zeitlin had and made Beasts of the Southern Wild better for it.  This film needed a powerful performance that could handle the emotional changes Hushpuppy would go through after the flood in the Bathtub, and that could make the fantastical world a reality as well.

The fantasy in this movie is filled with melting ice caps, beasts of legend and incredible acts of courage.  It is beautiful, spectacular and feels just as real as the rescue workers and evacuation that precedes it. It blends seamlessly and expands what we realize to be the way Hushpuppy sees the world.  It is absolutely magical and unlike anything I've ever seen another character go through.

[zapiecek]

The Origins of Electricity

Written & Directed by Benh Zeitlin

[pajarogrilloalce]

Once There Was a Hushpuppy || Benh Zeitlin

[lestercorp]

[georgefilmslife]

Death to the Tinman

Watched this last night and made me remember how good this short film is. People compare Ray Tintori's short to Wes Anderson, but I say naah. It's just as original, if not more than a Anderson flick (SACRILEGE, how dare you!). A great story told quickly through to the point narration and sharp edge characters - soundtrack is all on spotify and was done by Benh Zeitlin, directors on Beasts of the Sountherwild, EVEN BETTER, check it out!

[karenmaywrites]

"I think the most important thing is just to do what you want to do. A lot of times you get derailed from making movies when you are trying to support yourself or you’re not doing the things you want to do with your day.

When I was in New York and I couldn’t support myself doing exactly what I wanted to do, I moved. I went somewhere where I could squat till I could figure out how to make what I wanted to make. So that always came first. So I just think prioritizing. If you have to do something you don’t want to do all day long, you won’t have the emotional energy to create stuff."

Benh Zeitlin