I still haven't read Hillary Jordan's book, but Mudbound is a fascinating movie, especially since it has only been widely released on Netflix. In some ways I was hesitant to see it: There seems to be an awards-bait tendency to drop a "race" film in December, one that usually casts black people as slaves, maids, or the victims of lynchings. And, sure enough, this one isn't much different. But, like Loving and a few others recently, Mudbound complicates the usual tropes just enough to rise above expectations.
The story concerns two families, the Jacksons (black) and the McAllans (white). The McAllans get cheated into moving onto poor farmland, and they work the muddy ground alongside the Jacksons, who feel grateful to have land in a way their ancestors did not. The film creates magnificent parallels between the two families, especially in the mothers and sons: Carey Mulligan and Mary J Blige play the respective mothers who support but subtly challenge their subservient household positions, while Garrett Hedlund and Jason Mitchell play their sons who go off to war and return deeply changed. The white son, traumatized, bonds with the black son, who is confronted anew with violent racists he was free from in Europe, where he loved a white woman and fathered a son.
Nowhere is this made worse than in the character of Pappy, the McAllan patriarch, whose vile lines of dialogue spew racist baloney and white supremacy with every syllable, and whose gravelly voice immediately sets him up as a one-note villain who is almost more terrifying because of his simplicity. Of course, he's not the only monster in Jim Crow America, but the film smartly keeps things focused on the families.
I was most interested in the narration, a series of voiceovers from the main characters (except Pappy, thankfully) who alternate soliloquies, creating a chorus of voices. At first, I found this technique irritating and distracting, probably a translation of the book where such devices can propel the story, as it felt manipulative and disjointed. By the end, however, I understood its effort was to create a communal center of emotion. The tragedies of war and racism and violence affect all the characters differently, and their separate-but-together narrations enlighten the viewer to their more profound personal toll.
Which leads me to a final point. Mudbound has a lot of plot going on, and in fact, maybe too much. Lengthy parts of its over-two-hour run time set me to distraction simply because of scenes that do little more than create atmosphere and extraneous tension. Director Dee Rees, though, brilliantly centers her movie not on what is happening, exactly, but rather on whom it is happening. She gets amazing performances from her actors, some arrestingly good cinematography from Rachel Morrison, and a story that is more of a character study than anything else.
Take the sons, for instance. Jamie (white) and Ronsel (black), to help each other stay sane after the war, spend a lot of time together. But Jamie's swagger and provocative friendship with a black man reveal a deeper problem of white liberality. Both he and his mother, who are not explicitly racist like Pappy and Henry (the husband/father played by Jason Clarke), serve to benefit from the system of white supremacy and are protected by their skin color to the horrors they indirectly inflict on the Jacksons. It is because of Jamie's charisma and carelessness that (SPOILER ALERT) Ronsel gets abducted and tortured by the KKK near the end; Jamie's refusal to grasp the unfairness of their relationship results in him getting a bloody lip while Ronsel is forever silenced. In fact, seeing relationships like this reminded me of the brazen assault on casual racism in Get Out, and I think the two films would foster lively post-dinner conversation, in the right company.
There's a lot to unpack in this film, but what I was left with was the impression of deep complexity and emotional weight in the characters involved. The film uses thick contradictions to striking effect, making the viewer think about every moment. It's therefore exhausting to watch, a test of endurance and intelligence that I'm not sure I always passed. It will require further screenings. Moments of surprising tenderness and beauty, scenes of abject cruelty and horror, all combine in a picture of life that reminds us of the cost of injustice.
IMDb: Mudbound
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