The best thing about this film is that there are no close ups of people with epic expressions on their faces. There is also no phony epic piano music that is supposed to make us feel a certain way. The way of life in 1920s America and the atmosphere are not foregrounded to create a certain effect. The actors do not look like typical Hollywood actors. Everything is subtle and minimized.
If you enjoyed films like Cockfighter (by Monte Hellman) you might enjoy this film. But fans of over directed films like Ain't Them Bodies Saints are advised to stay away.
Gal Young Un is a tale of loneliness and life on a farm during the prohibition era in America. A lonely old woman falls for a crooked young bootlegger and takes him into her farm. The young man takes her for a ride, using her land to manufacture alcohol and also bringing other women into the old woman's house after he becomes a rich bootlegger. The film perfectly evokes the idyllic life on a farm and the vagaries of human nature.
A large portion of the character's interactions in the film take place during breakfast or lunch or dinner. It is over food that the battles and reconciliations are played out.
I am surprised Dana Preu (who plays the old woman) did not act in more films. Mattie Siles is kind, homely, loyal and lonely and these characteristics are evoked by Dana Preu without seeming to put in much effort. The pretty J. Smith-Cameron is the other woman with whom Mattie has to get along with. David Peck as the crooked bootlegger was a bit unremarkable.
If you enjoyed films like Cockfighter (by Monte Hellman) you might enjoy this film. But fans of over directed films like Ain't Them Bodies Saints are advised to stay away.
Gal Young Un is a tale of loneliness and life on a farm during the prohibition era in America. A lonely old woman falls for a crooked young bootlegger and takes him into her farm. The young man takes her for a ride, using her land to manufacture alcohol and also bringing other women into the old woman's house after he becomes a rich bootlegger. The film perfectly evokes the idyllic life on a farm and the vagaries of human nature.
A large portion of the character's interactions in the film take place during breakfast or lunch or dinner. It is over food that the battles and reconciliations are played out.
I am surprised Dana Preu (who plays the old woman) did not act in more films. Mattie Siles is kind, homely, loyal and lonely and these characteristics are evoked by Dana Preu without seeming to put in much effort. The pretty J. Smith-Cameron is the other woman with whom Mattie has to get along with. David Peck as the crooked bootlegger was a bit unremarkable.