A good documentation of American depression

Rating: 9/10 (28 December 2005)

I had heard that 'The Grapes of Wrath' is a good movie. I watched it and I found it indeed is. It's a very well cast, written and directed film by John Ford. The movie is about a family from Oklahoma migrated to California to find work during the great depression. I don't know why we call it 'Great' depression rather than calling it 'worst' depression or 'Devil' depression. I think humans are romantic about misery and so all the brutes or incident which brought misery are called 'Great' like Alexander the devil, Napoleon the devil and Devil Depression of America (1929). I'm sure by the next century Hitler will also be termed as 'Great' as by then probably western anti-communist agenda would have subsided and people will find greatness in Hitler's policies. Anyways. Henry Fonda- a Criminal by circumstances comes back from jail on parole to his home during American economic depression only to find his land is grabbed by capitalism and his family has moved to his uncle's farm. He meets them there and as his uncle's farm is also doomed they have no choice but to move towards the west to find work. In rest of the film the whole family keeps moving from one place to the other looking for work. The film has some very moving scenes especially the one where family stops at a restaurant to buy bread. The closeness of the family members, their relationship with each other is shown beautifully. At one point I was really compelled to think they are better off as at least they are together but from the next scene onwards the family starts breaking into pieces. Staying away from the family members is a curse of capitalism and this movie has depicted it in a very formal way. People are just lost on the way. Husband leaves his wife for a job. Uncle takes a dive into the water and asks others to move on as he wants to live close to a river. How things become direction less in a money oriented society is very well done here. Jane Darwell as Ma Joad steals the show. Henry Fonda has never said a word differently in any of his film so no point in discussing what he does here.
This is not a movie where you look for a story. Each and every scene is an anecdote for the people who have seen or have gone through the similar misery. It is a lesson for the future generation that the international conflict of 1914-1919 and 1939-1945 are no separate incidents. American, British and French postwar policies created global depression which resulted in unemployment and bringing communists in to power in Italy and Germany. The Great depression was a result of the First World War and a reason for the Second World War.
I must admit that when characters in the film picked up the mud and called it 'my land' I did not confuse it with 'the land we confiscated from Red Indians'. I'm sure Americans found the whole 'my land' thing very moving but I have read history carefully and could not forget that the same thing happened just a hundred years back and persecuted was a persecutor then. This movie came out in 1940-the Second World War had already started by then. America was still in shambles as Great FDR of Great America had still not looted Great Churchill of Great Britain in the name of help and became a Great American President. It seems movie won two well deserved Oscars for the director and best supporting actress. This movie was a big hit and Henry Fonda became a superstar overnight. The legend goes he reluctantly signed a seven years contract with universal just because of this movie. A must watch.