This is such an original piece of work, I believe I need to view it again. Unlike some of the naysayers that have given this almost no worth, despite the fact that it doesn't have a conventional plot, I was mesmerized from the beginning. First of all, this is dreamscape and fantasy. It's the mind of a remarkable little girl as she butts heads with her fears and her awful lot in life. The river people are just that. They are survivors. They are so out of the ordinary, one can dismiss them. I challenge anyone who has not had to be a part of such a world not to judge so harshly. Katrina brought these people to the surface literally and figuratively. This is an example of the objective correlative which is what visual filmmaking is all about. As for the acting, it seemed at times that no-one was really acting, as if they were actually people of the river. I look forward to another viewing.

Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)

An engrossing, vigorous, fanciful, primal movie set in Southern Louisiana in time of flood and strife. It's about the power of people to survive. It's a celebration of animal behavior. It's about community and loneliness. There are echoes of ourselves in all these people in their craziness or compassion, or their uneducated wisdom (or lack of wisdom which then depends on luck and instinct).

In short it's quite a ride, and the leading character is a little girl who now is up for an Academy Award nomination for best actress, with the only question about that being the weirdly simple and true question--how much is she acting, how much is she just being herself with amazing transparency on the camera? Well, the same could be said of lots of adult actors who are really just themselves over and over, and so you really can watch "Beasts" for the stellar and heartwarming effort by Quvenzhané Wallis.

There are other performances startling for their gritty (or downright filthy) realism, including the girl's father. But these start to intermix and blend into a larger effort involving the elements of wind and rain and flood, unbridled partying, moments of tender caring including some folk wisdom by the teacher and healer of the group, and so on in an up and down, topsy turvy mix.

You can love this movie just for its insider look at a culture that you hardly knew possible in the United States any more, or even in any third world country for its primitivism. It is in fact rather based on truth though ramped up and made sensational and into a kind of fairy tale. There are (in reality) some islands that have communities struggling on the fringes along the complex coastline of Louisiana, and some of them have almost no development, and correspondingly little education and health care. The film was shot on an actual island like this, though it given a fictional name (nicknamed the Bathtub by the characters).

You can also love this movie for its metaphors. If there is misunderstanding and cruelty between father and daughter, there is also a base instinct to stick together and survive. If there is a sense of independence there is also a dependency on neighbors and outsiders. If the world seems out of whack and insane you still find ways to make part of it reasonable, by either makeshift construction or by changing your outlook. And there are those giant boar animals menacing the main character in some kind of dream. This is really about survival in ways that go beyond physical comfort and food.

There is a problem, especially for people who appreciate more sophisticated movies for their plots and their filmmaking savvy, with the generally meandering narrative. The movie is not without ups and downs and an evolving sense of drama. But it depends more on its scene and its characterizations than on what happens with them. Things happen but they don't particularly develop, in the usual sense. You'll be spellbound and maybe even frightened (or according to some reviews, disgusted) by many of the scenes, but you might also start to wonder what it's all leading to. That's the narrative instinct in all of us for a development toward some kind of climax or turning point, and it's not compelling.

So just be immersed. Admire the fact these are amateurs and independents. Click back a few expectations and be surprised by some of the content for its immediacy. Unique and riveting.

Every year or so, there is a critically acclaimed Oscar nominee for Best Picture that just leaves me confused because I seem to be completely out of touch with these experts. Last year it was "The Tree of Life"--which the Academy loved and I hated. This year, though I have not seen all the nominees, it is "Beasts of the Southern Wild"--a film that critics and the Academy adore but which left me wondering why I bothered watching the movie in the first place. I just couldn't see what they saw in this film.

Before I discuss the odd meandering plot, I'll address my biggest problem with the film--the camera-work. I understand that this is a very cheaply made indie film, so they didn't have a lot of money for fancy cameras. However, it uses what I call 'the unsteady cam'--camera work that deliberately heightens the sense it's being done with a hand-held camera. Now they do have affordable cameras that will compensate for motion and can give you a nice, steady shot. However, about 20 years ago, someone thought it would be great to have a shot that looks like it was done on an iPhone. All I know is that watching it might easily make you motion sick! Please, please...just give me normal camera-work!!

As far as the story goes, it never made any sense. It involves a young, almost feral child who lives in a horrible little hellish village in Louisiana where everything is broken and old and dirty. I know these people are poor, but this went well beyond poverty. The children learn from a teacher who uses foul language and talks about prehistoric 'Aurocs'. As for the child's homelife, NONE OF IT MADE ANY SENSE. Her mother was gone...okay. But the father lives in a SEPARATE home nearby--as well as in some separate reality. Seeing a tiny child running about a broken down filthy trailer and playing with a flamethrower (of sorts) just brought out the dad in me--and I wanted to yell out that they need to rescue this child from this horrible environment. She also eats cat food. Soon, she burns the place down and then spends most of the rest of the film hanging with her crazy father who was dying. Then there's a big storm and the village is a mess. And, in the end, after treating the child like a pet for much of the film, the dad dies and the child burns him in a funeral pyre. WHAT?!?!?! What was the point?! Who are these people?! Why is this a film I should see?! A tiny little child barbecuing her dead daddy?! What?!? Maybe I am the odd-ball, but I truly hated this film and can't see how it could appeal to the average viewer. It sure didn't appeal to me in any way. I guess the child was good at acting but apart from that I can think of no compelling reason to see this.