Review of The Grapes of Wrath (1940) by Gabe L — 16 Mar 2009

I read this book a few years ago and was deeply moved by it. The slow and extremely painful collapse of the deeply complex, lovable, pitiful yet admirable Joad family was so saddening and strangely so uplifting at the same time, that in my mind the Great Depression, actually the entire country I live in, IS that book. Truly a difficult story to capture on film, I thought.

But, several years later, I decided to give the very famous movie version a shot, just to see if it was half as good as the book. To my suprise, the film doesn't compare with the book, but instead adds a whole new element to the vivid image of 1930s America started by John Steinbeck. Somehow, while telling almost the same story, the film finishes the book, and completes the portrait of the deeply complex Joad family. Henry Fonda is otherwordly as Tom Joad, and Jane Darwell holds her own right beside his legendary performance with her own of Ma. What was most enjoyable though, was the short, but extremely memorable appearances of characters like Grandpa, the former preacher, and the (not so) crazy man who explains that a man owns land when he's born and dies on it, not when he owns some piece of paper saying he does. It's these performances that are special and they all come together to make a truly beautiful film. A must see.