Go See: Beasts of the Southern Wild

Wow. My first initial reaction after seeing "Beasts of the Southern Wild" was...whoa, literally, as it was shot quite a bit on a steadycam and I get motion sickness after awhile.  But I endured and it was worth it.  This film is not for the light-hearted, it's gritty, harsh and what I would imagine very real for those who lived through and survived Hurricane Katrina.  And now with two Oscar nominations - that's enough buzz for me to be intrigued.  And to top it off - everyone is an unknown.

Who's the director?  Benh Zeitlin.  Who's that, you ask?  He's this young dude from Queens who graduated from Wesleyan University, who made a few short films then put together this feature length film after living in Louisiana for awhile.  What were his thoughts on filming in the south?  He said, "There are funny stories about [the making of "Beasts"] how I went knocking on someone's door and he came out with a shotgun. Even then, that guy showed up at our gas station two days later, and was like, "I'm sorry. I thought you guys were trying to kill me or you're from Witness Protection or something like that. I didn't mean to scare you. You want any red fish?" He'd just caught a bunch. You get real hospitality in Louisiana. I think it'd be much harder in another place because the state is extremely open and a more accepting, hospitable place."

And then there's the little budding actress, Quvenzhane Wallis (who is now the youngest ever to be nominated for an Oscar).  What was it like for Zeitlin to direct her? He says, "She was so focused and poised and just was fierce. She wouldn't do just what I told her to do, she questioned what I was saying. She'd say, 'I don't like this word' and she'd delete it. I allowed her to own the words and understand what they meant."

Her father is played by Dwight Henry who you despise then feel empathy for.  He makes you remember how hard his life is living in the hurricane ridden land of what he calls his home.  "They contemplated bringing in professional actors from New York or California to do my role, but they wouldn't have brought the passion to the film as someone who went through this on a regular basis. I was in Hurricane Katrina in neck-high water. I have an inside understanding for what this movie is about. I brought a passion to the part that an outside actor who had never seen a storm or been in a flood or faced losing everything could have," said Henry.