Child of God (2014)
Starring : Scott Haze, Tim
Blake Nelson, Jim Parrack, Nina Ljeti, Brian Lally
Plot: A dispossessed, violent man's life is a disastrous
attempt to exist outside the social order. Successively deprived of parents and
homes and with few other ties, Ballard descends to the level of a cave dweller
as he falls deeper into crime and degradation.
My Review and Thoughts:
Acting brilliance of a disturbing twisted nature. A gifted
twisted performance of depravity and excellence. Scott Haze is absolutely amazing as this lost
insanity. This is a tight crime drama of violence and shocking clarity.
Something I love about the way James Franco directs his films is the grittiness
and dirty feel of realism. From his As I Lay Dying and this one which explores
the unique visionary talent of telling an already perfect story into film form.
I mean my God are you kidding me, this is written by one of
the greatest writers of all time. Cormac McCarthy the true American novelist,
playwright, and screenwriter. He wrote one of the greatest modern books of all
time that will become a true literature classic and already is, 2006's The Road.
His powerful in your face twist of brutal emotions for his 2005 novel No
Country for Old Men. Which both of these films have been adapted as movies? He
is a genius, a God of literature, an icon. His stories transcend the pages to
become masterpieces of cinema. Not only are his books of literary masterpieces,
his literature becomes masterpieces on film. The Road is extraordinary, No
Country for Old Men is extraordinary and both are flawless award worthy movies.
The whole movie of Child of God or the story is a brutal reality of the darkness
of insanity. The violent content or shock value is not really what the movie is
about. The movie is about the inner recesses of the nature of the human psyche
through the concept of the disturbed psychologically unstable nature of one man
letting you experience his reality and logic. His life is normal to himself but
to us we know he is deranged and we get firsthand experience of this nature.
This is priceless backwoods Americana at its darkest. I live
right next to Sevierville Tennessee. The story takes place there and it is
always a treat to read books or see movies based in my home state.
The story from the book and the movie showcases many themes
and dark moments. The film explores much cruelty and the dreaded reality of
isolation, and moral degradation of the human persona as a whole. From the idea
and destruction of the body through necrophilia and murder implementing ideas
that life means nothing to the disturbed mind as long as it's self-satisfying.
How can one man who is insane become more insane? You slowly
watch insanity spiral into a path of brutal darkness as the word and meaning of
insanity has no real logic anymore because the character of Lester Ballard
steps beyond the concept of a word. Scott Haze is perfection in the part. He
gave his all and thoroughly built the character and sent the viewer to realize
the hellish truth of Ballard’s persona.
Giving humanity to insanity.