What is it about?
Two families are connected by their sons' budding friendship after the sons return from World War II to a farm in Jim Crow rural Mississippi.
Who is in it?
Jason Mitchell - Ronsel Jackson
Carey Mulligan - Laura McAllan
Jason Clarke - Henry McAllan
Garry Hedlund - Jamie McAllan
Rob Morgan - Hap Jackson
Mary J. Blige - Florence Jackson
Favorite Scene:
[spoiler alert]
After hearing about Henry's lien toward the Jackson family, Laura uses money from the family safe to pay for a doctor for Hap. Florence nods to Laura in the distance, and Laura acknowledges it before driving off.
Favorite Quote:
"Coon, spade, darky, nigger"... Went off to fight for my country to come back to find it hadn't changed a bit.
and...
"What good is a deed? My grandfathers and great uncles, grandmothers and great aunts, father and mother, broke, tilled, thawed, planted, plucked, raised, burned, broke again. Worked this land all they life, this land that never would be theirs. They worked until they sweated. They sweated until they bled. They bled until they died. Died with the dirt of this same 200 acres under their fingernails. Died clawing at the hard, brown back that would never be theirs. All their deeds undone. Yet this man, this place, this law... say you need a deed. Not deeds."
and...
"My world was small, and he was my rescuer from a life in the margins."
Review:
One of the best films I've ever watched.
That is not hyperbole. It really is.
Mudbound will have you emotional, engaged, and hooked for every bit of its run time, authentically and reflectively. You will feel immense when watching this film. You will also wrestle with so many inner thoughts, ideologies, and even the history you sometimes conceptualize or reduce to historical points and mere dates. This will be the case no matter how much you know, or think you know.
The ability of this film to weave together race, class, history, and the enduring effects of war on everyone is masterful. On top of that are the narrations of the characters that drop gems that continue the dive in these characters as humans, captured and freed by what they dream, what they know, and what they are exposed to.
Mudbound is also cinematically beautiful. The lighting, the scenes, and the overall clothing. This, of course, is accentuated by the great performances. Mary J. Blige is shockingly (in a good way) amazing. For me, it was the role of Jamie McAllan (Garry Hedlund) in this one that led the way.
As a viewer, I also am left wondering what became of Laura McAllan, who carried such empathy as a character. How many women did that at that time?
Amazing. Must watch. Beautiful. Bravo.
Grade: 5/5