By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Sean Baker
Starring: Aiden Malik | Bria Vinaite | Brooklynn Prince | Christopher Rivera | Valeria Cotto | Willem Dafoe
Country: united_states
Year: 2017
Running time: 111
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5649144/reference
Philip says: “I wish I had seen Sean Baker’s (TANGERINE) film, THE FLORIDA PROJECT before the Oscars. I would have cheered it on. Baker’s gritty realism witnessed in his stunning Tangerine turns out not to be a flash in the pan. The filmmaker creates the most truthful films using a mixture of trained actors and newcomers which results in the most honest, realistic films I’ve seen in a long time. THE FLORIDA PROJECT focuses on a group of people living week-by-week in a budget motel on a stretch of highway outside of Magic Kingdom in Orlando, FL. Baker’s film casts an empathetic eye on those often most forgotten, especially the children. How these kids create their stunning performances is nothing short of its own magic. In-between the obvious issues of neglect and abject poverty, the occupants of The Magic Castle Motel find joy and connection in an ordinary, everyday life. Baker creates complex, 3-dimensional characters who defy labels. Six year old Moonee is precocious one minute, terrible the next, and gleefully innocent and childlike after that. Her mother Hally mixes the worst of parenting with simple connected moments the best parent will envy. Motel manager Bobby played by Willem Dafoe shows deep concern and compassion under his gruff and depressed demeanor. What blossoms from the contradictions creates a beautiful film about the complexity of poverty and the ignorance of the haves for the have-nots. What could be a depressing retread of all the things that are wrong with our rich/poor society ends up being a celebration of life. This mood helps us face the wrongs head on which makes the day after viewing this work of art all the more personal. Not one moment of preaching, Baker sprinkles a little sugar on a very dark topic allowing us a moment to calmly digest the enormity of the problem and think about what we can do to make the world better for Moonee and her gang. 5 cats“