Wednesday, November 19, 2014

AFI FEST '14: Thou Wast Mild & Lovely

Year: 2014

Director: Josephine Decker
Writer(s): Josephine Decker & David Barker
Cinematographer: Ashley Connor
Cast: Sophie Traub, Joe Swanberg, Robert Longstreet
Country of Origin: U.S.
Rating: N/A
Time: 94 mins

If Terrence Malick had a twisted little sister, it would be Josephine Decker; the resemblance is clearly discernible in her sophomore feature, Thou Wast Mild & Lovely, utilizing Malick's uninhibited and experimental handheld style but with her own dash of psychosexual drama. Decker's story is framed against the backdrop of a quiet country farm, and shells out the kind of chills that not even Malick could muster. 

In the vein of John Steinbeck's East of Eden, the film follows Akin (Joe Swanberg), a man who's taken a summer job on a farm only to develop an attraction to its owner's daughter, Sarah (Sophie Traub). In what's seemingly an inevitable romance, the pair's physical attraction is amplified by their isolated setting, leading this quaint farm story to pack a ferocious intensity. If Terrence Malick had a twisted little sister, it would be Josephine Decker; the resemblance is clearly discernible in her sophomore feature, Thou Wast Mild & Lovely, utilizing Malick's uninhibited and experimental handheld style but with her own dash of psychosexual drama. Decker's story is framed against the backdrop of a quiet country farm, and shells out the kind of chills that not even Malick could muster. 

(Continue reading on Sound on Sight)