The Southerner

A portrait of bad luck, a meditation on getting by and getting ahead that's sort of vigorously cruel to its characters and filled with doom and gloom, yet their inherent goodness helps them to see things through. Visually, it's a stunner. There are a couple of sequences set in storms that are haunting - the coming of the rain immediately spoiling the mood, as a shot of the shades being drawn cuts to a shot of lighting slashing its way through the air.

Renoir's humanism treats this poor white Southern family with restraint and dignity.

A strong, naturalistic portrait of a group of people not often given their due in the golden age of Hollywood, The Southerner follows a poor farming family through a year of trials, perseverance, and undying hope. Renoir presents the main characters without irony and with a focus on the land which both sustains them as well as frustrates their efforts. The story itself is simple and episodic, but Renoir is seeking to capture a time, place, and people, which he does quite well.

It's obvious that Renoir is giving the American audience exactly what it wants here in the aftermath of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl and WWII: a story of a staunchly independent all-American man triumphing over Mother Nature to tame the land. He's playing it safe (working with beloved source material). But even so, there are moments in which Renoir's brilliance for combining etic and emic perspectives bursts through the filmic surface, in particular the 'bar fight' and 'wedding' scenes.

Glad I didn't watch this as my first Renoir. It's a fine enough movie, but not sure I'd be as eager to check out more by him as I was after La Bete Humaine. In the start I was afraid it would be absolutely terrible tbh, but it got better after the first meeting with Devers. I even kinda warmed up to the granny character by the end. Well-acted for the most part, especially Zachary Scott in the lead.

Renoir approaching Ford in The Grapes of Wrath mode. Sort of. It's easily the best Hollywood Renoir this viewer has seen, mostly because of its emotional directness and the simple appeal of its underdog characters. Scott is good as a downtrodden farmer hoping to make a living on his own terms, and Renoir documents his family's difficult journey with compassion and humour.

Loved this movie! Just a great story and characters.

Borders on the laughably lame line

Zachary Scott is fantastic as the virtuous, hard-working family man who just wants his own farm. Good and Evil are painted in strokes a bit broad for my taste, but Renoir's marvelous eye means this picture LOOKS nothing like other movies of the time, and it often has a meditative feel. Betty Field is charming as his wife and Beulah Bondi, as Pauline Kael wrote "regrettably [,,,] is more than a bit much as Granny." I got some personal amusement from hearing Beulah Bondi sing "Beulah Land".

81.50

Eh. This film is a bit late to the party. There have been many more films about farmers trying to make the american dream work. This one doesn't bring something new to the table. I hated that godawful granny. Good for nothing moaning-ass bitch.

A very simple, quaint tale of a family trying to overcome adversity. There are some scenes that are so heartwarming it's just pure joy to watch. Unfortunately, the whole thing is extremely dated. The script and acting are both pretty lame (I wanted to strangle those kids), and Renoir's camerawork is uncharacteristically restrained. There are a few scenes where the film attempts humor, and it falls flat on its face. I don't entirely regret watching it, but I won't again.

Amor à Terra tinha sua première há 75 anos em Boston. Não sei se foi essa a intenção, mas esse filme me lembrou muito os dramas de John Ford dos anos 40 como Vinhas da Ira, é como se Renoir prestasse homenagem ao coração da América e nada mais vai ao seu âmago do que John Ford. Box Versátil A Arte de Jean Renoir.

A decent depiction of po'folk but doesn't really have much to get excited about, I reckon.

The Southerner (1945) serves to build pride, but must be considered one of Jean Renoir's weakest ones in exile. That doesn't mean it's without merit, for there is a lot of hardship, fine quirky characters and a general good story underneath. Just felt Renoir's touches were a little sloppy. Not unusual for him, though. That's part of the charm to his film making.

Beulah Bondi, you piece of work!