I'm perversely glad that I'm not the only person bothered by the cheesy score. It was just constantly trying to pull this interesting movie into conventionality.
Nana's ferociously desperate plea to Eli to stay on the island (the scene I'll always remember, as it departs from the gauzy reverie of much of the movie) also serves as an enduring critique of capitalism. Developers have been champing at the bit for decades to expand their foothold in the islands, while the population of Gullah/Geechee and the political will to preserve their homeplace and way of life only shrinks. This can only end one way, as Nana does recognize ("the last of the old and the first of the new"), and one does not have to think too hard to find other present-day analogues.
As it happens, my oldest friends (and Revealers) Noel and Donna got married on St. Simon's Island, which was a lovely destination for a wedding and also quite developed in a way that you would not recognize it as the same locale. I did find myself wondering more about the day-to-day details of the Peazants' life and the broader evolution of the island, but obviously the film's agenda was both narrower and way too loaded to bring any of that stuff in.
I found this a beautiful yet frustrating movie; I think a theater experience is what I need to really appreciate it.
It's a shame Arthur Jafa never did more in film (I did see a visual installation of his a couple of years ago, and would love to see his reenactment of the original TAXI DRIVER ending)
"Even now, it might be good to advise those seeing the film for the first time to allow the images and the score to take them on a reverie, and just pick up whatever they can from the storytelling."
I watched this last week and that's definitely how my first time went. I missed a few things, but still very much enjoyed the experience.
I'm perversely glad that I'm not the only person bothered by the cheesy score. It was just constantly trying to pull this interesting movie into conventionality.
Nana's ferociously desperate plea to Eli to stay on the island (the scene I'll always remember, as it departs from the gauzy reverie of much of the movie) also serves as an enduring critique of capitalism. Developers have been champing at the bit for decades to expand their foothold in the islands, while the population of Gullah/Geechee and the political will to preserve their homeplace and way of life only shrinks. This can only end one way, as Nana does recognize ("the last of the old and the first of the new"), and one does not have to think too hard to find other present-day analogues.
As it happens, my oldest friends (and Revealers) Noel and Donna got married on St. Simon's Island, which was a lovely destination for a wedding and also quite developed in a way that you would not recognize it as the same locale. I did find myself wondering more about the day-to-day details of the Peazants' life and the broader evolution of the island, but obviously the film's agenda was both narrower and way too loaded to bring any of that stuff in.
Appreciate the thoughtful analysis of this. I've only watched once but was taken with the clash between maintaining tradition and adapting to the new.
I found this a beautiful yet frustrating movie; I think a theater experience is what I need to really appreciate it.
It's a shame Arthur Jafa never did more in film (I did see a visual installation of his a couple of years ago, and would love to see his reenactment of the original TAXI DRIVER ending)
"Even now, it might be good to advise those seeing the film for the first time to allow the images and the score to take them on a reverie, and just pick up whatever they can from the storytelling."
I watched this last week and that's definitely how my first time went. I missed a few things, but still very much enjoyed the experience.
I learned about mancala from Quest For Glory 3!