The racial gap is a familiar subject and may have been raised too much by Hollywood dramas. But Mudbound elevates it to a higher level by making the conflict personal. The characters are many and the plot is some, but we feel close to everything. The drama is not manipulative because it comes from the emotion of characters that resonates with us. The setting of the 1940s did not make it any less relevant.
Mudbound tells the story of the fate of two families. The first was a white family, the McAllans family and the only black family, the Jacksons. They actually share in common: (1) equally poor, and (2) are both fighting against it. However, they make the distinction of social strata as a barrier. Same misquin kok yes not compact.
The film uses a fluid perspective. Director Dee Rees devised a structure that allowed the six main characters to narrate their respective stories. But this does not reduce the large skeleton into fragments, let alone make the film episodic. Instead it gives them each spotlight that will lead us to see their lives from their point of view.
Henry McAllan ( Jason Clarke ) is a strong-minded and sympathetic man but also stubborn and insensitive. In order to gain a better life, he brought his wife and children from the comfortable life of the city to a distant countryside to cultivate ample farmland. He was too embarrassed to admit his mistake in making a decision to his father ( Jonathan Banks ) and too ignorant with his wife's pain.
Laura McAllan ( Carey Mulligan ) is Henry's wife. Raised in a family of sentosa, Laura had never been close to a man until she was three, so it was just that when Henry was married. Laura became a devout wife. He was also embarrassed when he was brought by Henry to a modest home in a village with no access to electricity and clean water or when he had to live with his grumpy father-in-law. Laura's only protest was that her favorite piano should not be thrown away.
Jamie McAllan ( Garrett Hedlund ) is Henry's sister. Charming and fascinating, Jamie became the idol of the girls, even at one time almost stealing Laura's heart. But World War II forced him into the battlefield by becoming a bomber pilot. He was back in a state of trauma, no longer a lover of women but a drink lovers.
The McAllan family is the owner of the land, while most of the work on the land is the Jackson family. Jackson family life is more difficult. Their house is smaller, their child is more, and they have no assets other than the physical that must be thrown from morning till night. They're not slaves of the McAllan family, but they look more like that. The head of his family is Hap Jackson ( Rob Morgan ), a hardworking man who dreams of owning his own land.
Florence Jackson ( Mary J. Blige ) is the wife of Hap. Raised in a slave family, Florence vowed not to take care of someone else's child like her mother. He will only raise his own child. But a tragedy made him unable to reject his heart call as a mother. After all, Florence realizes she shares the same fate with Laura. They both just want to protect their children from the harshness of the world.
Ronsel Jackson ( Jason Mitchell ) is the eldest son of the Jackson family who was sent to the battlefield as commander of the tank forces. In Europe, he was hailed as a war hero, but once back in his hometown, he was just a black boy who was considered presumptuous because shopping in a shop, boro-boro honored.
Ronsel's coincidence coincides with Jamie's return. Feeling as a friend in arms, the two immediately became close. Share drinks and cigarettes while sharing stories about trauma and the past, where race is no longer a substantial issue. But every time Jamie invites Ronsel to get on his car, Ronsel must occasionally duck down because this is a time when there is no white skin with black friends. As life became increasingly difficult, the dynamics between the two families became even more complicated. No sign of happiness is coming. The culmination is of course melodrama, but Mudbound does not present it by menye-menye.
These six different narratives build a solid unity of story. And he is supported with a simple but powerful performance of all players. No one seems to give a half-hearted appearance. And although the film is the production of Netflix , the production order is steady. We are truly made to believe that these six characters live in poverty; a simple life in a complex world. White and black characters get equal emotional and moral weight. He does not simply exploit the suffering of blacks, rather than invite us to see nuances in their conflict.
Mudbound is adapted from Hillary Jordan's best-selling novel and I can imagine how dense the book is to see a movie full of characters, subplots and long spans. The scope is huge, so it's amazing to see Rees work here so focused. The story is not messy. Rees like never losing a grip on his material, while injecting consistent sensitivity throughout the movie. We understand what nature is, what they think, and what they dream. Without the need to do it directly, the film challenges our consciousness.