There’s a lyrical, almost dreamlike quality toMudbound’saesthetic – some might sayTerrence Malick-like (i.e. drifting narration over stark yet beautiful farmland vistas). This imagery stands out especially when paired with the sad and ugly contentMudbounddelves into – namely the racist conditions of the Jim Crow South. Two families – one white, the other black – struggle to make a living in the farmlands of 1940s Mississippi, each contending with the erratic conditions and prejudicial views of the time/area.
FilmmakerDee Rees, adapting Hillary Jordan’s novel and rewriting Virgil Williams previous draft, crafts a timely look at how people under the same conditions can be driven apart by their own base, misguided views. The McAllan (Jason Clarke&Carey Mulligan) & Jackson (Rob Morgan&Mary J. Blige) families both have far more in common than differences and yet, because of their racial make up, the McAllans treat the Jacksons as ‘lesser-than’. When the Jackson’s son (Jason Mitchell) and McAllan’s younger brother (Garrett Hedlund) strike up a friendship, the tension between the families threatens to boil over into outright tragedy.
In the following interview with Dee Rees, she discusses adapting & rewritingMudbound, changing the book’s ending, coming up with the look of the film and the timeliness of the film. For the full interview, watch above [Of note – there are some spoilers in the above interview].Click hereto read Adam’s review.
Here’s a list of what was discussed:
