Day 49 Mudbound [2017]
Screenplay Dee
Rees & Virgil Williams
Based on ‘Mudbound’
by Hilary Jordan
Director Dee
Rees
Cinematography Rachel
Morrison
Music Tamar-kali
Leads Carey Mulligan,
Jason Clarke, Jason Mitchell, Mary J. Blige, Rob Morgan, Jonathan Banks,
Garrett Hedlund
Production Elevated Films, Joule Films
IMDb 7.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes 96%
More of what the Academy Awards needs. I’m sorry
that I keep mentioning them, but they have spurred on my watching of a run of
Oscar-nominated films. I wanted to see what all the fuss is about and Mudbound
is another deserved nominee. And how refreshing to see the first ever woman
nominated in the cinematography category. Although I must admit I wasn’t blown
away by the shots, a lot of them told a story without any dialogue, we learnt
about the tireless fear that ‘black folk’ had in those times, just from one
shot of Hap’s face. The film is about a white couple Laura and Henry McAllan (Mulligan
and Clarke) who move onto a farm in rural Mississippi with their kids, and
their racist Papi. They are aided by a black family, Hap and Florence Jackson
(Morgan and Blige) who work the land for them. Two young men return from World
War II to their families. Henry’s brother Jamie, a handsome alcohol (Hedlund)
and Ronsel Jackson, the Jackson’s strong-minded son. The film shows the
Southern black experience of those times in gritty detail. It shows how Ronsel,
a brave war veteran, is reduced to a man having to use the back door in the
local store, by the men of the Jim Crow South. It’s a distressing ending, but
suitably as this film covers a distressing subject. I’d go into it more but it’s
Friday night, I’m drunk, and no-one reads this drivel anyway. Watch the film.
You’ll just have to trust me I guess.
Acting 3.5
/ 4
Writing 3
/ 4
Cinematography 3
/ 4
Music 3
/ 4
HWF rating 3 / 4