A window into the life of migrant workers in the 30s

Rating: 10/10 (20 January 2020)

The Grapes of Wrath is a 1940 Hollywood movie and is based on the book written by John Steinbeck. It was adapted for the film by Nunnally Johnson and directed by John Ford.
The film's main focus is on the Joad family's survival during the great depression of the 1930s. The film is in black and white which lends itself ideally to reflect the gloomy times and life circumstances of the main characters; they are poor tenant farmers, suffering from terrible climate catastrophe that destroyed their land and livelihood. The process of brutal bank repossession of the farm and eviction of inhabitants was presented in its entire cruelty, showing no regard for the dignity and destiny of its long-term occupants and their survival.
The film opens with the two main characters: Tommy Joad (played by Henry Fonda), and Jim Casy, a preacher and Tommy's friend, driving by some fields and talking about share cropping. Tommy discloses that he has been just paroled from prison where he spent 4 years for killing a man at a bar. That later puts him in a legally sensitive position. Returning to the share cropping land in Oklahoma where Tommy Joad and his family had worked for generations, he was immediately told that they are no longer allowed to work on those lands. After much effort to resist, the Joads join the caravan of other from Oklahoma on the journey west to California that advertised jobs and opportunities. That made them feel hopeful for their future.
The film follows their journey to California, where not everything is great: some family members die and some lose their spirit in addition to their descent into poverty, some split from the group, people quarrel and fight, the living conditions are horrible, people sharing sad stories of helplessness, low pay and more hopelessness. Jim Casy is very honest about losing his faith while still reminiscing fondly on his past time as a preacher. Both Jim and Tom reflect passionately on the conditions, the fairness and social justice.
The tragedy of this film is watching their long trek not result in a better life. Still the film includes scenes where people manage to dance and sing and cling to hope and stay loyal to land and farming.
What I really liked about this movie is that it made me consider parallels of poor living conditions of people under capitalism versus the powerlessness of masses of people under communism. In spite of sad circumstances people in the movie were free to move and pursue happiness. Compared to the amalgamation of modern movies I've seen the characters were very authentic and much easier to connect with.
The movie was one of the best overall that I've seen. The absence of CGI was also surprisingly refreshing because it makes you just focus on the people, the acting and the story. I haven't seen any other films from this era which makes me not want to give it any kind of star rating.