We suffer, we rise

Rating: Null/10 (12 September 2017)

Great drought has brought endless dust storms into the state of Oklahoma. Many families have been driven from their homes by banks looking to reap profit despite the miserable conditions. As such the Joad family packs itself onto an aging truck and sets out towards California in hopes of finding a Golden Land. Based on a novel by the same by John Steinbeck, although I've been led to understand that the book is a lot more depressing and politically minded than this film. And if that's the case, what a depressing book it must be. Because the film isn't exactly a ray of sunshine either.
And yet it is a triumph, in a sense. Henry Fonda and Jane Darwell play the leads as Tom Joad and his mother, and in them crystallize the themes of the film. All good things will end, nothing lasts forever and when hard times come, it's up to us to pick ourselves up and journey through them. Individual humans may falter, may fall, may perish, but humans as people have always survived. The film has some truly great monologues and speeches about this, and as an overall film it's all about that willingness to rise up, to bear the load, to survive. The Joads travel from one tragedy to another, and it is truly heartbreaking, but yet they endure. And that's what matters.
The film also questions the basic necessities of life. When it matters, what do we need? We all need to eat, we all need to sleep. And if those basic needs are fulfilled, what then? It's natural for us to look after ourselves, including our families, perhaps our closest friends, but it takes something extra to care for anyone else. And yet, that extra caring has a meaning. Is that meaning needed, warranted or even essential? That's the question.
The Grapes of Wrath shines as a rare gem. A film brilliantly acted, brilliantly told, with brilliant themes. If you aren't moved by this film, one has to wonder.