New phrase... It looks like a documentary but it's not. It's also not a docudrama. I reserve that for something that has more than 200 sentences in the screenplay. WHAT IT IS is a good look at the Louisiana bayous circa 1948. Cajun boy runs around the swamps with his pet raccoon in his boat and befriends the workers on an oil derrick. There's nothing that overly turns me off about the picture, but there's some stuff I would want to question (maybe because I didn't live in that area in the 40's).
#1: For being a cajun boy who grows up in the swamps, how come he doesn't know how to row a boat? #2: Why is the boy automatically inducted into the comradery of the derrick workers? #3: at the end, he climbs up on top of the pipe cap and waves to the guys leaving. That definitely wouldn't happen today. The film was financed by Standard Oil, so nothing disastrously happens that can't be remedied completely (understandable). The wildlife shots are amazingly depicted. At 78 minutes though, it's a fast watch and brings you back to times long gone.
#1: For being a cajun boy who grows up in the swamps, how come he doesn't know how to row a boat? #2: Why is the boy automatically inducted into the comradery of the derrick workers? #3: at the end, he climbs up on top of the pipe cap and waves to the guys leaving. That definitely wouldn't happen today. The film was financed by Standard Oil, so nothing disastrously happens that can't be remedied completely (understandable). The wildlife shots are amazingly depicted. At 78 minutes though, it's a fast watch and brings you back to times long gone.