The Southerner

This was good; it was like a western in that American male perserverance triumphed over nature, but sort of different because it was about sharecropping. The romanticization of the role of the farmer was a little annoying, and I didn't think the interdependence speech at the end (about how farmers need factory workers, and vice versa, this was the main dichotomy in the film) quite made up for it. I couldn't quite tell why the bar scene (in which the farmer watches his factory friend tear up the bar after the proprietor steals from him) was included, other than to show the temptation and also the decadence of "town life," but it seemed a little too wild for just that. Some roles, especially the grandmother, made this feel antiquated, like it was necessary to make excuses for filmmaking style that seemed outdated. It was also almost overbearing in its plucky support of the well-meaning steward of the earth, which wasn't what I'd been expecting from Renoir at all. I suppose that's maybe what happens when you immigrate and become enamored with your new country, which is not to say there aren't plenty of American scumbags as well. I think what I didn't like was that I kind of already knew what it was trying to tell me.

This might work as neorealism though, especially since Renoir was the forerunner of that movement anyway. It's kind of like Ladri di Biciclette, wherein there is a man who thinks he gets a break, then has bad things happen to him, is let down by others, has to support his kids and wife, and in the end is basically ruined. It is a little more hopeful, though, and shows a faith that family will carry the man through.