Film: Shotgun Stories

Director: Jeff Nichols
Genre: Drama
Source: USA (2007)
Rating: PG-13
Location/Format: Netflix Instant Streaming
Grade: A

Jeff Nichols is fast becoming a rising star in my eyes. I saw his second film, Take Shelter, and was highly impressed. That film, grounded by an incredible Michael Shannon, is a fascinating look into faith, delusion, and need, and it is clearly biblical in scope. It's a powerful movie, and I was surprised that I liked his debut film Shotgun Stories just as much. It's got a smaller scale, a smaller budget, and a lot less flash, but it still is exploring some deep waters. It's hard to tell which film I like better--they're really neck and neck. Shotgun Stories reminded me in some ways of Badlands, Malick's first film, and though Nichols isn't quite as visually charged as a director, he does know how to make small-town Arkansas feel beautiful and meaningful.

Also, while Take Shelter feels biblical in scope, Shotgun Stories has the feel more of a Greek or Shakespearean tragedy for a major portion of the film. As two sets of sons, both with the same father but different mothers, watch the feud between them grow out of all proportion, the film builds a sense of inevitability and dread. Like Take Shelter, this film is also anchored by a strong performance from Michael Shannon, here playing Son, the oldest of the three abandoned sons. His resentment and frustration rumble under his face like deep underground currents, and he spreads that anger to his brothers almost by osmosis. It's a great performance, outshining the clearly-less-talented-but-still-effective supporting cast, but also elevating their work.

I haven't yet determined what I think Nichols is doing with masculinity, but I think it's a driving force of the movie. This is a man's movie, about sons trying to come to grips with their fathers. There are women present, but almost wholly to watch the men around them. That's an oversimplification, of course--Son talks about being raised by a "hateful woman" (his mother), and his relationship with his wife is one of the stakes of the film--but I was impressed with how much there was about manhood without directly addressing it as an issue. The sons are fishers and farmers; they work with their hands at repairing tractors and vans. Son struggles with his role as a provider for his wife and son (another son), and looks to find shortcuts through learning to count cards. Even the names of the three central brothers--Son, Boy, and Kid--are all names that highlight their gender and their relationships to an older authority figure.

And of course, at heart the film is about that heavy question of forgiveness. Is it better to take a more traditionally masculine approach to the wrongs that have been done to you--seek revenge, fight back, take an eye for an eye--or is it better to be perceived as weaker in order to de-escalate a situation. To forgive is in some ways seen as feminine, and yet if no one in the feud will forgive anyone else, the conflict could spiral out of control and result in the elimination of both parties. Whether it will or not--and whether that "masculine" approach is right or wrong--seems to be the central focus of the story.

I really loved it. I've seen a lot of good movies in the past few months, but Shotgun Stories is really going to stick with me. Highly recommend it.

Alternate Film Title: "Boy's Van Is Awesome"