Shotgun Stories
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Shotgun Stories |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2007 |
| length | 92 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Jeff Nichols |
| script | Jeff Nichols |
| production |
David Gordon Green , Lisa Muskat , Jeff Nichols |
| music |
Lucero (Ben Nichols), Pyramid |
| camera | Adam Stone |
| cut | Steven Gonzales |
| occupation | |
| |
Shotgun Stories by director Jeff Nichols is an American drama from 2007, a revenge tragedy in a divided family. Nichols also acted as a screenwriter for his first work of some local flavor. In the leading role of the Independent film is Michael Shannon to see.
action
In contemporary southeastern Arkansas : Son, Boy and Kid Hayes in their early thirties live in a sleepy village in poor conditions (somewhere between redneck and white trash ) and mostly hang around "like flotsam". Her father, a drinker and violent man, was unable to even give the three more than archetypal names. Her mother is a "hateful woman" . After the father (never to be seen) had given up on her and his children, he turned to the Christian faith, remained dry and completely changed in character, and he fathered four more sons in more respectable circumstances with another woman. Son is the oldest of the brothers with a calm manner . He does physically demanding work on a fish farm . The lanky Son always seems a bit sleepy and can usually be seen with a coffee cup. Annie just dumped him for making too much money playing blackjack. He is on the trail of a “system” and hopes for a big winning streak. The long-haired kid lives with him in the garden in a camping tent. He's thinking about proposing to his friend Cheryl. With Annie gone, he can move back into the house. The slightly overweight boy sleeps in a mobile home by the lake. The whole salvation of his soul seems to depend on the cigarette lighter or the power supply of his mobile home. When he's not tinkering with it, he trains basketball with underprivileged youths. Otherwise they'll sit on the porch drinking beer, on the curb, or drive around. Her four half-brothers, especially Cleaman and Mark, are a real model family in comparison. The four, with whom she has had a barely concealed feud since memory , are accordingly a few years younger. They are currently repairing a Deere tractor in the cotton fields.
The mother teaches Son, and only him, that the father has died. Unexpectedly, at Son's instigation, the three burst into the funeral and a scandal ensues. Son interrupts the sermon and gives a bitter diatribe with the conclusion: " This was no good man ". The moment he spits on the coffin, the half-brothers jump up and grab him. At home Annie asks him: "You think, this was a good idea?"
In Cinemascope images of the sparsely populated province, where the sun hardly ever penetrates through the cloud cover, the film now phenomenologically represents a possible continuation of the spiral of violence.
At the car wash, Son hits a provocation without saying much. Boy backs away and is considered a coward. As a result, there are outright death threats. The situation escalates further when Mark Boy's dog kills with a venomous snake. Kid grabs the handle of a shovel, looks for Mark and goes for him, and he dies of a fractured skull base. John and Stephen avenge Mark on the spot, and stab the attacker. Two of the brothers are divorced .
Cleaman and Son meet in the hallways of the hospital with murderous eyes. Cheryl and Annie meet while shopping. Son seeks out the old raven mother while cutting the hedge and accuses her: “ You raised us to hate those boys, and we do, and now it's come to this. “There is a bad fight at the tractor with everyone involved. Son falls into a coma. The boy, beaten in green and blue, gets a ruff. He buys a shotgun and confronts Cleaman, who is currently sleeping in his garden, but fails to pull the trigger. You can see the half-brothers at the dining table loading rifles and arming themselves for the inevitable massacre. Boy comes into the yard unarmed, where he looks into three large-caliber rifle barrels. He renounces violence and brings them to an understanding. He also protects a family, says Boy, namely his own future . After a long hesitation, they lower the shotguns and Cleaman tells him never to show up here again.
At the end you see Boy with his boys on the basketball court, and then Son and Boy drinking beer without a word on the porch.
Others
Director Nichols emphasizes that the film is designed for the big screen, not the picture tube. He told Indiewire, "The biggest challenge we faced during production was just money." Nichols is from Little Rock , Arkansas and, like David Gordon Green , attended the North Carolina School of the Arts .
Jeff Nichols elsewhere: “In my opinion, films should come from a specific location. [...] in England , Arkansas, the people are very helpful, but they have more or less ignored us. [...] Southeast Arkansas is a room that simmers on a low flame. The people in front of the background of the wide fields slide along so leisurely. For me that meant: aspect ratio 2.35: 1 “ (England, Arkansas at 34 ° 33 ′ N , 91 ° 58 ′ W ).
"Shotgun Stories" was shown at the Ebert fest 2008.
Reviews
- "A shotgun load of inarticulate American anger , played with the disarmingly serene inevitability of a Greek tragedy, " Eddie Cockrell, Variety
- “Beautifully played in quiet, intense performances by Michael Shannon, Douglas Ligon and Barlow Jacobs. […] We are not entering new territory here, ”Jeremiah Kipp, Slant
- "The depth of the detailed, subtle representations [...] only comes through when you look at it a second time." Matt Zoller Seitz, The New York Times
- "Shannon [...] is a revelation," Walter Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle
- “Elegiac speed and lyrical shots of oppressive landscapes […] Although it comes up with excellent, life-size depictions and has an innate sense of atmosphere, with Adam Stone's poetic camera work and the haunting music […] 'Shotgun Stories' never succeeds completely convincingly to be. ”Frank Scheck, Liberation Entertainment / International Film Circuit
- "The characters are not malicious or psychotic, but actually pretty nice when they are on their own, only powerless against the wounds of their childhood.", Roger Ebert , Ebertfest 2008
- “Son's problem is that he never had much role model [...] the film doesn't linger on the violence [...] it's not about the individual act of violence, but about the consequences [...] both precisely regional and expansive, contemplative and disturbing [...] Son also laments: 'This damn empty city.' ”( This is one empty ass town ), Cynthia Fuchs, Popmatters
- “Nichols believes in the chance of his characters and that there can be happiness in life without externally visible success. The vicious circle of powerlessness, lovelessness and violence can only be broken by those who do not escape one life by fleeing into a supposedly better one. […] As an astonishingly self-confident narrator, Nichols relies on American landscapes and faces that hardly anyone knows. He consistently bans any glamor that is now attached to most so-called independent productions. ”, Thomas Binotto, Neue Zürcher Zeitung
- "An allegory of our time, Shotgun Stories is a tragedy of biblical proportions and an intimate family drama.", Bill White, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
- "[... The movie] takes the finger off the trigger with the same inherent, natural correctness that has loaded the story with such tragic power." Brian Gibson, Vue Weekly
- “Slowly like a big millstone, the film gets going. [...] But then suddenly he lets a power rule that is bigger, more beautiful, better than any hatred: reason . Nichols' answer points far beyond the Arkansas hinterland - deep into all war and crisis regions of the world. ”, Julian Hanich, Der Tagesspiegel
With the votes of 1,063 viewers, Shotgun Stories received 7.1 out of 10 points in the IMDb on February 11, 2009 and a high 92 percent with 37 evaluated reviews for Rotten Tomatoes (86 percent of 7 top critics), the film was featured on Metacritic 76 percent performed in 15 reviews.
Awards and nominations
Viennale 2007
Independent Spirit Awards 2008
- John Cassavetes Award nomination for Jeff Nichols, David Gordon Green and Lisa Muskat
Austin Film Festival 2007
- Feature Film Award in the Narrative Competition category for Jeff Nichols
Newport International Film Festival 2007
- Student Jury Award for Jeff Nichols
Seattle International Film Festival 2007
- New American Cinema Award for Jeff Nichols
Web links
- Official Site (English)
- Shotgun Stories in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Shotgun Stories at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- Andrew O'Hehir: A thorny indie spring-ucopia! at Salon.com (English)
- Indiewire Interview - "Shotgun Stories" Writer / director Jeff Nichols in Indiewire
- International Film Circuit: Shotgun Pressnotes ( PDF , English; 214 kB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ cf. Jeff Nichols: Formative Landscape - The director of the film. ( PDF ; 318 kB) In: www.berlinale.de. Berlinale, accessed on September 16, 2008 .
- ↑ a b c cf. Nick Dawson: Jeff Nichols, Shotgun Stories. In: Filmmaker Magazine. March 26, 2008, accessed on September 16, 2008 (English): “Filmmaker: You call it a post-9/11 revenge story, but there's also strong echoes of classical tragedy here. - Nichols: It's a pretty universal theme "
- ↑ a b cf. Julian Hanich: Aeschylus in Arkansas. In: Der Tagesspiegel . February 15, 2007, accessed November 26, 2014 .
- ^ A b Eddie Cockrell: Shotgun Stories. (No longer available online.) In: Variety . February 11, 2007; archived from the original on December 2, 2008 ; Retrieved on September 16, 2008 (English): "A point-blank buckshot blast of inarticulate American rage, played with the disarmingly placid inevitability of Greek tragedy" Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Kenigsberg, "The Arkansas Church where everyone knows everyone, every afternoon slacks, and the stereotypes are ripe." Ben Kenigsberg: Shotgun Stories (2007). (No longer available online.) In: Time Out Chicago. June 5, 2008, formerly in the original ; accessed on September 16, 2008 (English): "This is the Arkansas town where everyone knows everyone, where all the afternoons are lazy, where all the clichés are ripe"
- ↑ a b c Thomas Binotto: Where dreaming stands still. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . August 7, 2008, accessed September 16, 2008 .
- ↑ see web links.
- ↑ Jeff Nichols: Shotgun Stories and Regional Storytelling. (No longer available online.) In: Moving Pictures Magazine. www.shotgunstories.com, archived from the original on March 3, 2010 ; accessed on October 24, 2008 (English): “In my opinion, stories should come from a specific place. [...] in the small town of England, Arkansas, the people there, although immensely supportive, really didn't waste much energy on us. [...] Southeast Arkansas is a slow burn kind of place. The people move at a steady pace against a backdrop of vast farmland. For me, this meant a 2:35 aspect ratio. “ Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ A b Roger Ebert : Shotgun Stories. (No longer available online.) In: Ebertfest 2008. Roger Ebert's Film Festival, 2007, archived from the original on May 25, 2008 ; Retrieved on September 16, 2008 (English): "the characters are not vicious or psychotic, are actually fairly nice left to themselves, but powerless in the face of childhood wounds" Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Jeremiah Kipp: Shotgun Stories. In: Slant. March 20, 2008, accessed on September 16, 2008 (English): "beautifully acted in quietly intense performances by Michael Shannon, Douglas Ligon, and Barlow Jacobs [...] The theme that revenge only leads to misery feels like familiar territory"
- ^ Matt Zoller Seitz: Half-Brothers Mired in Full-Blown Hate. In: The New York Times . March 26, 2008, accessed on September 19, 2008 (English): "The cast's detailed but subtle performances deepen Mr. Nichols's characters in ways that become clear only upon second viewing"
- ^ Walter Addiego: Also Opening Today. (No longer available online.) In: San Francisco Chronicle . April 4, 2008, formerly in the original ; accessed on September 19, 2008 (English): "Shannon [...] is a revelation here"
- ↑ Frank Scheck: Shotgun Stories. (No longer available online.) In: www.hollywoodreporter.com. March 28, 2008, formerly in the original ; accessed on September 16, 2008 (English): “elegiac pacing and lyrical shots of depressed landscapes […] Although it boasts excellent, fully lived-in performances and a genuine sense of atmosphere thanks in large part to Adam Stone's poetic cinematography and the haunting musical score [...] 'Shotgun Stories' never manages to be fully convincing "
- ↑ Cynthia Fuchs: Shotgun Stories. In: Popmatters. March 31, 2008, accessed on September 19, 2008 (English): “The problem for Son […] is that he hasn't had much of role model […] the film doesn't linger on the actual violence. […] The point is not any single brutal act, but the consequences […] at once acutely regional and expansive, contemplative and roiling […] Son laments, “This is one empty ass town.” “
- ^ Bill White: Limited Movie Runs. In: Seattle Post-Intelligencer. May 8, 2008, accessed on September 19, 2008 : "An allegory of our times," Shotgun Stories "is a tragedy of biblical scale and an intimate family drama."
- ^ Brian Gibson: Shotgun Stories. (No longer available online.) In: Vue Weekly. July 10, 2008, formerly in the original ; accessed on September 19, 2008 (English): "Jeff Nichols' impressive debut [...] manages to pull away from a hair-trigger resolution with the same inherent, natural right-ness that loaded the story with such tragic force"
- ↑ 2007. (No longer available online.) In: Fipresci . Fipresci , archived from the original on November 22, 2010 ; accessed on October 24, 2008 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ The FIPRESCI Prize. www.viennale.at, accessed on October 24, 2008 (English).
