Movies: Ain't Them Bodies Saints

(Drivebycuriosity) - Hollywood likes outlaws. Movies like "Bonnie & Clyde", "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid" and "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" belong to the finest productions of Tinseltown. The exquisite film "Ain't Them Bodies Saints" continuous this tradition (imdb). Wikipedia describes the complex story, that is set and shot in Texas, as "a tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met." (wikipedia)

Writer and director David Lowery, a newcomer in Hollywood, knotted a psychological study about sacrifice, passion, competition, stubbornness and violence. Lowery put the action scenes into the background and focused on a slowly developing drama which focuses on three characters who are knotted by fate.

The superb cinematography (Bradford Young) magnifies the intense of the film by keeping most of the scenes in dark and painting them often in ocher or in blue. The rare use of bright light works like an alarm underlining the power of the story.
 
Rooney Mara ("Social Network",  "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" , "Side Effects") proved again that she one of the brightest stars in Hollywood. Her intensity and the power of eyes gives the audience a special experience.  Casey Affleck fascinated me again with his very special way of speaking as he did in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford". Ben Jonson, the third element in this triangle, gave the plot a kind of stabilizing element.

"Ain't Them Bodies Saints" got what it takes to became a classic and a cult movie.