Review of The Grapes of Wrath (1940) by Josh P — 16 Jan 2019

John Ford directs a truly amazing production that allows viewers to see and feel what it was like during the Dust Bowl era. The story is based around the struggles of the Joad family and their migration from Oklahoma to California after being kicked off their due land. Throughout their journey, the family faces many struggles, some viewers may be able to relate to. As Tom Joad (main characters), Henry Fonda's performance was brilliant. From the beginning through the end of the journey, Tom Joad's determination to fight not only to get his family to their final destination but also to fight for what's right without prejudice, or discrimination due to their social and financial status is sincere and deeply felt. Specifically in his last scene with his good friend "The Preacher" played by John Carradine.

I highly recommend watching this movie. At first, I did not think that I would enjoy it, but I'm glad I gave it a chance. To me the most positive part about this movie was seeing the portrayal of the importance of family values. Although the family is poor and the struggles are many, one thing that never fails is the love that they have for each other. The performance of all actors in the Joad family was very honest and represented the importance of family, love, hope, loyalty and respect. There are very powerful, emotional scenes where the interaction/exchange between characters is truly touching or I was able to feel the anger or frustration of the character. This is one of the key factors that makes a "good" movie.

This is a very old film in black and white, produced during a time where the movie effects available today were not available then. However, in multiple, if not the whole movie, the sound, music, change in sceneries and lighting effects, all together capture the true feeling and tone that makes up this wonderful production. In the end, writers and producers still delivered a movie that even a student like me did not want to stop watching. Even with today's technology advances, you can't say that about all movies today either.