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ROM A DISTANCE,
Beasts of the Southern
Wild bears zero resemblance to the typical Oscar contender. It’s neither
an adaptation of a literary bestseller nor a biopic about an iconic
yet misunderstood historical figure. It doesn’t hearken back with
nostalgic affection to Hollywood’s
Golden Era, nor does it have a
single thing to say about World
War II or the Holocaust. Its director has no recognizable credits to
his name, and its stars, if you can
call them that, give new meaning to the term “unknowns.” One
works as a baker in New Orleans;
the other is years away from finishing grade school.
Yet for all that, this staggeringly cathartic film may well figure in the Oscar equation this
winter, scoring nominations in
any or all of the following categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best
Original Score, and maybe even
Best Actress, which would make
newcomer Quvenzhané Wallis
the youngest nominee ever. (Justin Henry, who was eight when
Kramer vs. Kramer came out, is
the current record-holder.)
Beasts of the Southern Wild is
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the brainchild of first-time
filmmaker Benh Zeitlin, 29, who
grew up in Queens and later
moved to New Orleans. He pieced
the script together over the
course of eight months, spending
much of that time in the remote
South Louisiana fishing villages
of Terrebone Parish. The resulting
film offers an intoxicating vision
of a community beyond the edges
of civilization, with all the free-
HUFFINGTON
06.24.12