Thursday 21 May 2009

The Grapes Of Wrath (1940)

Sure don't look none too prosperous.
At a glance:
Decidedly didactic socialist film starrin Henry Ford (pic), based on a book that won a Pulitzer and a Nobel Prize for Literature. Of course I'm too young to know but I guess it really was the most talked about movie and novel in the day. Within 15mins into the show, you'd soon understand why - it has some very unambiguous things to say about poverty (and even feminism), presented in the most politically dangerous way. This means it's easy to believe the shit. No wonder it's a historically important film.
I can't remember if I cried:
When I read that the book had this bit (not included in the movie) where Rosasharn gives birth to a stillborn and then offers her milk-filled breasts to a starvin man who was dyin in a barn. Wouldda made quite a heartbreakin scene.
Watch out for:
The bit where the old man refused to go. All to familiar to me. Also, John Carradine as the creepy ex-priest Casy is particularly hauntin.
Most memorable line:
Tom Joad: Sure don't look none too prosperous.
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
Thoroughly entertainin movie that really has somethin to say. Wish non-American kids could have this as part of their curriculum too, so that they could grow up knowin Depression is an economic term and not just an emotional one.★★★★