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Beasts of the Southern Wild: movie by Benh Zeitlin

 




This film is based on lucy Alibar's one-act play, Juicy and Delicious, and really, in terms of its suitability for study in the classroom, we think the best things about it are the excellent acting performance by 9 yr old Quvenzhane Wallis and the unusual, quirky camera shots. Other than this, the story itself is disjointed, incohesive and depressing, depicting extreme poverty, abuse and neglect (physical and emotional) .

Verdict: Not a good choice for clasroom study. Reviewed by IrishParents

I watched this with my 14 yr old daughter last night (whose favourite subject is English) and she found this movie very bleak and was disturbed by the scenes of extreme neglect and the abuse hurled at the 9 yr old actress by her father. She also commented that the bloody scenes of animal carnage where the boar-like creatures and dogs are torn open, with their intestines spilling out, were unsuitable for young people of her age to be forced to watch and  (quite rightly) that the brothel scene in the boat's hull, which includes 4 young girls under the age of 10 dancing/snuggling into the breasts of prostitutes, was surely not appropriate to be showing to students at the Junior Cycle level....I quite agree!

Reviewed by Padraig, Co. Waterford