Just Watched: Winter Bones

Winter Bones

Some movies are beautiful to look at, some movies feature excellent acting and some movies have a great story.  This movie has all three.

As usual I wont describe the film since you can follow the above link and read a better description of it on Wikipedia.  I'm just going to tell you a few things I liked about it.

I was particularly impressed with the cinematography of this film.  The opening shot of a denuded tree branches set against the blue sky was gorgeous and I kept revisiting it in my mind as the film progressed.  It seemed to perfectly capture all the elements the film was laying out: people tied to the land they are born on, twisted family genealogy, people dormant but with potential.

I also enjoyed the use of animals in the movie.  There's a spectrum of wildness: squirrels, dogs, people and we are a lot closer to each other than you think.  There's an odd section where the film it changes gears and squirrels are featured in almost a trippy montage.  I can't really explain it but I think it's making the point that the actions of the film aren't that much different than a squirrel running around gathering nuts to survive. 

I've been watching the FX series Justified and this film reminds me a lot of it.  If you've not seen either do yourself a favor and watch them.

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