Review of The Grapes of Wrath (1940) by Josè M — 03 Feb 2011

The Grapes of Wrath is set in Oklahoma around the thirties, during the dust bowl and the great depression. The film begins with our tale's hero, Tom Joad (Henry Fonda), just being released from jail, and heading home to find his family. Once he gets there he only finds an old beat up house, and he is informed that his family is fixing to leave for California. They all have a happy reunion right before Tom and the rest of the family depart for California; However, once the Joad family reaches California they realize that it may not be near as pleasant as they had imagined, and now they must try and make a living off of very little work. And with things looking bad for the Joad family, having almost no food on the dinner table every night, they will have to do everything they can to just remain alive in these dark times.

The Grapes of Wrath is one of the greatest, if not greatest, american films ever made. And it is one of my personal favorite films of all time. I have put off reviewing for awhile for whatever reasons, and now I am going to finally write it. The story to this film was for the most part amazing. For those of us that live in today's time, the great depression is only something that we learn about in history books, so for some this film may not be quite as pwerful as it is for others. But for anyone that actually lived in the depression, or has known people that have, it is is easier to understand the importance of this film, and the book by John Steinbeck. It is really sad, but true, that life was once this way, and this is both an educational and meaningful film about how life used to be in America. The Grapes of Wrath, both film and book, truly capture the real horrors of the great depression, and that is one of the reasons I love this film so much. It is as important of a film to this country as To Kill a Mockingbird is, and in my opinion that is saying something. The Grapes of Wrath is hands down for me one of the best film adaptions of a book. I know a lot of these types of fims get critcism for not being like the book, but I feel that even people who enjoyed the book, will also enjoy this film.

Seeing as The Grapes of Wrath was directing by the great John Ford, I do not think the film's success will come as a surprise to many people. John Ford was one of the finest directors to ever walk this earth, though I don't think you will see him at the top of many people's favorite list, no one can deny some of the great film making he did over his career. He was a brilliant man who had an absolutely brilliant career. And when he filmed The Grapes of Wrath he did one of the most difficult things a director can do, and that is take a book and make a movie out of it. Not only that, but he made it just as good, or better than the book, and that takes talent. John Ford's direction in this film is absolute perfection. He takes what could be a very boring story, about a large counrty family moving to California, and he turns it into what is what I believe to be one of the greatest stories ever told. Filled with some of the best characters in film history. Especially Tom Joad and Ma Joad.

The acting was superb. Henry Fonda gives what may be his career performance in this film. He plays the main character in the film, Tom Joad, and he does it perfectly. He may not have won best actor for the performance, but he was still nothing short of excellent. Henry Fonda is one of my all time favorite actors, and he deservedly was given the Honorary Award. Though not to take anything away from his performance, as brilliant as it was Henry Fonda's acting was not my favorite in this film. Jane Darwell stole the show here. She did not have all too great of a career, but I do not think there is another actress in this world that could have played the part of Ma Joad better then Jane Darwell did in this film. It would have been wrong to give anyone else the Oscar. Words cannot describe how meaningful, and incredible her performance was in this film. And really all around everyone did a good job acting in this film.

Overall, The Grapes of Wrath is a true masterpiece. Not many films have been made that I can say I felt were better than this one. This is the true meaning of film making right here. Absolutely perfect acting, it does not get much better than this, and the cast was great as well. I enjoyed everyone's performances in this film, and I can't say that for too many movies, especially nowadays. The direction by John Ford is not to be missed, and as magnificant of a career as he had, The Grapes of Wrath is probably the greatest film he ever released. And even for an old classic the music was actually enjoyable in this film. Movies just do not get much better than this, if you are a movie fan at all, The Grapes of Wrath is for you.