|
|
|
Georgia in the 1890s: The Beauford plantation is among the biggest of the
region, which in turn makes the Beauford mansion a center of local society
and location of many a party. Beauford has four daughters, Syra, Seeny,
Twiggy and Nelly, and while the other three thing about nothing else but
young men to marry, Nelly's passion is puppetry, so much so that she makes
her own puppets and puts up shows with her best friend Nile, and the two
girls dream of becoming puppeteers. As it happens, one day Rogers, a star
puppeteer from the UK, stops by the Beauford residence - and though he's
very charming and shows interest in Nelly and her work, she's not taken in
by him and shows more (professional) interest in his impresario Bellamy.
And then she meets their "assistant" Brock, a young black man about her
age, who proves to be the real genius behind Rogers' shows, creating all
his impressive, very complex puppets. She and Brock soon form a bond that
blends the professional with the romantic - but in the 19th entury South,
mixed race relations were still a big no-no ... Director Hooroo
Jackson has made a name of himself making AI-generated feature films, but
this is the first one he has made in a photorealistic style - and the
results are quite impressive: Not only does the film capture the spirit of
the era it's set in quite nicely, is heavy on atmosphere, and Jackson's at
times avant garde ways of filmmaking keep things interesting, it also
features a really compelling story that mixes historic and universal
themes into an impressive whole. So in all, a movie well worth a watch,
even if one looks beyond its technical achievment.
|
|
|