I don’t want realism, I want magic! Yes, yes, magic!
The leaves may be starting to change, but things have taken a decidedly warm turn at the fall season of Emory Cinematheque, now underway. The theme is “Southern Gothic” for this semester’s series of film screenings offered by the Department of Film and Media and the Emory College of Arts and Sciences.
This season’s curator, director Lydia Fort, is assistant professor of theater studies and resident director of Theater Emory.
Southern Gothic 101
Fort sought out specific qualities when narrowing down the dozens of candidates for the fall film series:
- Atmosphere: “I want to feel the heat in these films! The sweat,” Fort says. “If I can feel a mosquito biting, great. But I definitely need that Southern atmosphere to be a part of it.”
- Decay: “Whether it’s institutional, family, ideals or the environment, Southern Gothic as a genre connotes decay in some regard,” she explains.
- The grotesque: “The characters need to feel oddball or grotesque,” she says, “or like a part of a community you are not a part of.”
Fort also looked for films that included some commentary on race, although she notes that “even neglecting to address race in an otherwise Southern Gothic film is its own statement.”
The kaleidoscopic view offered by the Southern Gothic lens is far from realistic but instead plays with illusion and fantasy.
For this series, Fort deliberately chose films that pop that lens onto a variety of genres, from comedy, to fantasy to drama. Taken together, she says, they offer a look at how Hollywood — and, by extension, the rest of the country — view life south of the Mason-Dixon.
“If Hollywood is a standard maker of opinion,” she asks, “what do they want to say about the South?”
Emory CinemathequeWednesdays at 7:30 p.m. through Dec. 4 White Hall, Room 208 Free and open to the public. Each film is followed by an audience talkback session. |
The films
“In the Heat of the Night” (1967)
Wednesday, Oct. 2
“The hallmarks of the Southern Gothic here include this sense of decay in the institution of law enforcement, and that’s something we’re still talking about today,” Fort says. “But there’s a moment with Sydney Poitier and Rod Steiger. The two are sitting side by side on a bench, not segregated! That’s powerful. This film meant so much to me as a young person.”
“The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter” (1968)
Wednesday, Oct. 9
This movie, based on a novel by Carson McCullers, “showcases the otherness” endured by someone whom we might call neurodivergent today. “There’s one moment that’s so profound, with this character observing someone else’s joy as she listens to music. But he’s observing from afar and not a part of it," says Fort.
“Wise Blood” (1979)
Wednesday, Oct. 16
Fort calls “Wise Blood,” based on a Flannery O’Connor novel, “hands down, my favorite film in the grouping. It definitely surprised me. We’re constantly being introduced to these characters, and you’re like, ‘Where are you from? Who are you? How can you exist in this world?’ It’s brilliant.”
“Southern Comfort” (1981)
Wednesday, Oct. 23
Buckle up for “a surprising kind of horror film” that “touches on the relationship between government and the military in the South,” Fort says. She adds that scenes of people patrolling a verdant landscape may be reminiscent of a film like “Predator,” but with this movie’s distinctly Southern setting, the subject of enslavement is never far from the viewer’s mind. And, Fort says, “This one ends in the most satisfying place.”
“Eve’s Bayou” (1997)
Wednesday, Oct. 30
“This is a film with lots of atmosphere,” Fort says. "It explores truth as subjective and the agency of women in a time that stripped them of their power and limited their right to be true to themselves." Furthermore, she says the Creole-American family at the movie’s center means “we’re looking at a very specific Southern culture here. And such a fabulous cast!”
“O Brother, Where Art Thou?” (2000)
Wednesday, Nov. 6
“It’s worth examining this problematic Coen brothers film,” Fort says. “It wants to talk about a South moving in a new direction, one that’s on the brink of change.” She also points to widespread criticism that the movie’s representation of its African American characters leaves a lot to be desired. Still, she says that the array of oddball characters and iconic shots make it a clear example of the genre.
“Winter’s Bone” (2010)
Wednesday, Nov. 13
“I chose this one,” Fort says, “because of how it centers on Appalachia,” a region of the South with a unique history and culture. She appreciates the movie’s depiction of how its poor, white characters “struggle systemically. And just about every actor is wonderful in their role; so grounded in this world.” A bonus: Fort says to look for a moment at the end of the film in which “so much is said in one glance.”
“Beasts of the Southern Wild” (2012)
Wednesday, Nov. 20
“Here’s our fantasy [film of the series],” Fort says of this drama set in a flooded-out Gulf. “This is absolutely all about this child and her legacy, and a threatened community as survivor, as bringer-of-life. Also, home and belonging. As a viewer, I wanted to be part of this community.”
“True Detective,” Season 1 (2014)
Wednesday, Dec. 4
First things first: They will only screen the first two episodes, despite Fort’s whimsical fantasy of showing the entire first season of the prestige drama during a weekend sleepover. “There is so much that exemplifies the Southern Gothic,” she says. “The way we see these two [characters] in the same spaces, but they are inhabiting different realities.” She mentions an iconic scene featuring a decaying building. “You can see its structure,” she says, “but its purpose is obliterated. And behind it, water. A symbol of cleansing.”
Cinematheque’s fall season also previously featured “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “The Night of the Hunter,” “The Young One” and “Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte.”