A lot has been said already, the tension between man/nature, nomos/physis, rural/urban, "civilisation"/"primitivism", and when these human delusions of order are removed all these boundaries blur and the characters' humanity is lost (Drew's appeal to the system of law fall on deaf ears, Bobby is violated, Ed is reluctantly forced to kill after failing before, Lewis physically loses a part of himself with his likely amputation). Then another undercurrent is this hubris of capitalism, represented by the arrogance of these four businessmen. They begin by looking down at these "hillbillies" and following the conventions of tragedy are punished. For it is capitalism that has pushed these rural people to the margins, that despite all the wealth of this land, it has been sucked up to the top and resulted in great inequality and poverty. This perhaps has resonance beyond the Appalachia. Special praise for the sound, the ever-present sound of the rapids, the water splashing, the birds, the forest, it was definitely the fifth character of the film, indicative of the all-presence and power of nature.
Great post Don, especially re: capitalism, which could simplistically be lumped in with "civilisation"/"progress"/"Man" but the film deftly handles all these different themes in interesting ways.
A lot has been said already, the tension between man/nature, nomos/physis, rural/urban, "civilisation"/"primitivism", and when these human delusions of order are removed all these boundaries blur and the characters' humanity is lost (Drew's appeal to the system of law fall on deaf ears, Bobby is violated, Ed is reluctantly forced to kill after failing before, Lewis physically loses a part of himself with his likely amputation).
ReplyDeleteThen another undercurrent is this hubris of capitalism, represented by the arrogance of these four businessmen. They begin by looking down at these "hillbillies" and following the conventions of tragedy are punished. For it is capitalism that has pushed these rural people to the margins, that despite all the wealth of this land, it has been sucked up to the top and resulted in great inequality and poverty. This perhaps has resonance beyond the Appalachia.
Special praise for the sound, the ever-present sound of the rapids, the water splashing, the birds, the forest, it was definitely the fifth character of the film, indicative of the all-presence and power of nature.
*****
Great post Don, especially re: capitalism, which could simplistically be lumped in with "civilisation"/"progress"/"Man" but the film deftly handles all these different themes in interesting ways.
ReplyDelete