retro rated: the grapes of wrath

[danny_galaga]

"Mom, wherever there's a cop beatin' a guy
Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries
Where there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me mom I'll be there
Wherever there's somebody fightin' for a place to stand
Or a decent job or a helpin' hand
Wherever somebody's strugglin' to be free
Look in their eyes Mom you'll see me."


Saw this the other week for the first time. I must say I was moved. I've never read the book, so I can't compare them. Henry Fonda plays Tom Joad, who along with other 'Okies', heads to California during the Great Depression looking for better times. Fun does not ensue.

It was interesting to see Henry Fonda. I think I've only ever seen him as an old man, in 'On Golden Pond'. He did a great job. He didn't win an Oscar, but I'd like to think he at least was nominated.

This was filmed in 1940, which is both a hindrance and a help from the point of view of a modern viewer. On the plus side is the fact that it is filmed only about ten years after the stories setting, meaning it was easier to get everything looking right compared to if it had been filmed now. And maybe easier for the actors to tap into the pathos of that time, although I suspect most of the actors wouldn't have endured the harrowing circumstances of the 'Okies'.

On the down side, there were a few production quirks relating to that time period that distracted me. A minor one is the opening music. Seems to me every movie from that period has the same brassy, upbeat orchestrated tune- from thriller to comedy to drama. For this movie, it seems incongruous. A bigger niggle (and this is probably down to budget constraints) are a couple of sound stage scenes. Normally, even if you can tell, it isn't very noticeable. But these supposed outdoor scenes had a very distinct studio echo. Distracting.

Still, certainly an eye opener of a movie. We all have an idea that it wasn't much fun to be an American in the Great Depression (the Depression didn't effect all countries the same way believe it or not. Many continued on oblivious to the woes of others. Bit like we do today), this movie shows you in what ways it wasn't the best of times. Things happen that we see on the news now in third world countries. People being treated like animals. People so numbed by poverty that even if a family member dies, they seem almost oblivious. A reminder that when the chips are down, there's always oppressors and oppressed. It could happen anytime, anywhere.

4/5.

my score for recent movies you may have seen:

  5/5 - The Kings Speech, Michael Clayton, In Bruges, Gran Torino, Mary and Max

4.5/5 - Taken, Iron Man, Reign Over Me, Watchmen, The girl with the dragon tattoo

  4/5 - True Grit, Traitor, Bedtime Stories, Sunshine, pineapple express

3.5/5 - 300, Max Payne, You dont mess with the Zohan, Yes Man

  3/5 - That new Indiana Jones flick, Disturbia, That new TMNT flick,

2.5/5 - Angels and Demons

  2/5 - The Love Guru. Note: My 2 is probably someone elses 1. Just leaving room for worse!

[ark_ader]

A lot of people can relate to that movie today.

Read the book, it is much better.

[leapinlew]

Read the book, it is much better.

If you like long winded authors, John Steinbeck is your man. If you enjoy excessively detailed metaphors and setting descriptions - read this book. What a clunker and one of the most overrated popular books. I should start a thread "Popular Books (that really suck)".

I can hardly express how much I hated this book. A very torturous read. Oftentimes a movie adaptation from a book suffers due to the time constraints of a film and the inability to adequately convey thoughts and characters. This is not the case in Grapes of Wrath. In the book, Mr. Steinbeck drags you kicking and screaming as he mercilessly describes every nook and cranny of a setting. Just when you think the story might progress, he spends an inordinate amount of time describing the most trivial thing. Yes, I realize many times it's a metaphor... I realized it was a metaphor and I knew what the message was 20 pages back.

Terrible book. I wouldn't say this often, but stick with the movie. 

[ark_ader]

Do a search on this site.  I believe I posted a thread about this last year.

I think it was titled: Books to read before you die, or something like that.

[CheffoJeffo]

Funny ... I was going to post that this is one of the few times that I agreed with ark on something (the book is better). But, I also agree with Lew -- the book takes effort to read.

[danny_galaga]

I think I'll stick with having seen the movie then 

[Gray_Area]

Still, certainly an eye opener of a movie. We all have an idea that it wasn't much fun to be an American in the Great Depression (the Depression didn't effect all countries the same way believe it or not. Many continued on oblivious to the woes of others. Bit like we do today), this movie shows you in what ways it wasn't the best of times. Things happen that we see on the news now in third world countries. People being treated like animals. People so numbed by poverty that even if a family member dies, they seem almost oblivious. A reminder that when the chips are down, there's always oppressors and oppressed. It could happen anytime, anywhere.

I heard from someone today that the country's currently is going to fail, resulting in a food shortage, coming very shortly.

[danny_galaga]

Still, certainly an eye opener of a movie. We all have an idea that it wasn't much fun to be an American in the Great Depression (the Depression didn't effect all countries the same way believe it or not. Many continued on oblivious to the woes of others. Bit like we do today), this movie shows you in what ways it wasn't the best of times. Things happen that we see on the news now in third world countries. People being treated like animals. People so numbed by poverty that even if a family member dies, they seem almost oblivious. A reminder that when the chips are down, there's always oppressors and oppressed. It could happen anytime, anywhere.

I heard from someone today that the country's currently is going to fail, resulting in a food shortage, coming very shortly.

The big problem for the US in the Great depression was that the stock markets collapsed just as they were having severe droughts. This is one of the reasons not all countries were affected in the same way. In Australia for instance, yes times were tough, but it coincided with a ginormous rabbit plague, so at least people got to eat  

So as long as there aren't any awful droughts in the US this time around, I don't think it's going to be as dire as the 30's...

[Gray_Area]

I meant to say 'currency'. In any case, we live in interesting times.