Junebug (Phil Morrison, 2005)

[peerpee]

Anyone seen this? It's got an 'outsider art' theme (one of the characters paints Howard Finster-like characters with Henry Darger-like penises), Will Oldham has a cameo, there's a Yo La Tengo soundtrack, and Amy Adams is being seriously bigged-up for BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS... Was released theatrically in early August in the USA, and is out on DVD in January.

[Brian Oblivious]

I have. The too-cute trailer almost scared me away. But I went with a friend's encouragement and though it was quite good. The "outsider art" theme is minor, but parallels with the main character's place as an outsider in a culture alien to her. It was somehwat reminiscent of Lost in Translation in this way, but this resonated more strongly with me. Perhaps because I'm a city kid with relatives in rural North Carolina, so I could relate.

[neuro]

The film exceeded my expectations in almost every way. Although I may risk depicting the film as any given "indie" film (which, I'll admit, a few scant times it resembled), I was really taken by the stillness - the way that the film took time to reflect on the quiet boredom that makes up many of our daily lives. What I found even more remarkable was the insightful manner in which it examined the ongoing, buried tension that exists to this day between the North and the South. For what was perhaps the first hour of the film, I thought the film was clearly the work of a Northern persuasion - a one-sided potshot at the South - until its alliances seemed to subtly, delicately shift 180 degrees.

The cast was uniformly outstanding, although (and this may rile a few people on this board) Benjamin McKenzie's acting switch seems permanently set on "slow-burn brooding." The aforementioned Amy Adams was completely charming and brought a lot of conviction to a part that would normally be played as comic relief.

[Andre Jurieu]

... although (and this may rile a few people on this board) Benjamin McKenzie's acting switch seems permanently set on "slow-burn brooding."

Oh, come on neuro, we all know Ben McKenzie has no acting switch - that "slow-burn brooding" is a permanent setting. It's his lame form of "method". His bad acting is interesting in the same way Jerry Seinfeld's lack of acting skills were amusing. Only lately has Ben increased his range to "pretending to be relaxed". I'm certain Mr. banana will back me up on this.

As for Junebug, I do believe che-etienne had some observations regarding the film over in the Broken Flowers thread.

[The Invunche]

You guys watch The O.C..

*points and laughs*

[Andre Jurieu]

You guys watch The O.C..

*points and laughs*

Well, I do believe I caught a mention of the Criterion Collection on last night's show. Teen demographics aside, any TV show that drops in references to Renoir and Sirk is OK by me. It's also probably the most self-referential/self-deprecating show on TV (even if the target demo doesn't understand the humor). Besides, I lost my credibility a while ago, so what's one more foot in the grave.

[The Invunche]

I'll forgive you, but only because of the excellent posts in the Cannibal Holocaust thread.

[ben d banana]

Seriously, you all are like Jerry Seinfeld denying he watched Melrose Place.

Well, I do believe I caught a mention of the Criterion Collection on last night's show.

With all the times I bring up that show here, Criterion was due last night's name drop.

Taylor stops by Seth's bedroom and before he can get a word in, declares her “likeâ€

[Andre Jurieu]

And right about there she shouts out, "I have the Criterion collection!"

Tonight Taylor mentioned Kieslowski's Dekalog. I assume she imported the DVDs.

[Michael]

I loved the look and feel of Junebug....how every scene melt into the next, like a long unbroken day dream. However I'm not even sure what to think of Junebug. I'm not a Southerner but the Southern characters in Junebug seemed way off that I'd love to know how the Southerners feel about the film. Is Junebug's image of the Southern culture negative? Stereotypical (backward, ignorant, white trash)? Or is it completely honest?

In the end, as the oldest son and his wife drove away back home to the north, he said that he was glad to be "out of here".. away from his Southern roots, that is. All two hours of his wife exploring her husband's roots and then we get that smug remark from her husband in the final scene. What is the whole point? That attitude threw me off. Was it done on purpose? Are we supposed to see Junebug's Southern characters through an outsider's eyes?

Loggerheads takes place in the same area as Junebug. I just saw it last night and it's still so fresh and expanding more and more in my mind. I loved it - five stars all the way. You love every character in Loggerheads even if you don't share the beliefs or values as any one of them.

[Antoine Doinel]

What I really liked about Junebug was that it allowed the viewer to judge the characters for themselves, and the final scene you speak of is particulary revealing. I had the feeling it revealed why the husband's brother hated him so much. That final phrase revealed himself to be such a phony character, acting as the respectable son and small town religious hero when he really didn't give a shit about anyone but himself. It finally made sense why he pretty much abandoned his fiancee in the house to deal with his family. I thought it was an eye-opening moment and particularly devastating.

I also loved the moment when the father-in-law pocketed the wood carving he made. Such a heartbreaking, small moment in a movie that contains many of them.

[Dear Catastrophe Totoro]

That scene unnerved me as well, but I don't think he was an asshole as much as he understood exactly what his family wanted him to be. Maybe he gave up on hoping that they would accept him for who he is (obviously quite different from the rest of the family, except the father...), so he decides to play the role they want him to play for as long as he visits.

[Michael]

It finally made sense why he pretty much abandoned his fiancee in the house to deal with his family.

Very true. Junebug didn't really develop the oldest son's character .. most likely on purpose because the film spent more time with his fiancee. That should say more than enough about the son's character - too shallow and fake to even bother developing him. That last line from him really unnerved, frustrated, and confused me but his fiancee ultimately "joining" him made it worse.

[LeeB.Sims]

This one of my top favorites of the movies I've seen in the last ten years so I tracked down this thread and had to throw in my thoughts, hope you all don't mind. I have a good friend who, like you, was so turned off by the last line that he practically dismissed the entire fine film on the basis that it must have been condescending the whole time. I frankly don't see it that way at all. Maybe it's because I related so strongly to this film on a personal level. I'll go so far as to tell you that I am currently a liberal democrat, and art lover who was raised by conservative, practical, deeply religious parents. I can quote Bresson or point out a great Thai restaurant while smoking a joint and hugging a homosexual… but I could also put on a tie, open a hymnal in my parent's church and sing every stanza with genuine respect. When I'm with my parents, I respect that their values, beliefs, and very social structure is very different from mine. I refrain from cursing when I'm around them, and I'll stifle any urges I may have toward inappropriate humor, and I would never, ever take the Lord's name in vain. I listen to them and I learn from them constantly by adapting to their culture, in the same way you might remove your shoes before entering a traditional Japanese household. Now, having said that, after a long weekend of conservative wisdom and eloquent simplicity, I might get in the car with my wife, revel in the fact that we're finally alone and say “Let's get the fuck out of hereâ€

[pauling]

I caught this last night and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. I'm not the biggest fan of "quirky family" movies but it definitely transcended that genre by dealing sympathetically and honestly with a troubled group of individuals who happended to be a family. The stereotypical Southern hick and Northern snob angles could have been played for the easy laughs but the film took a step back and left a lot of questions unanswered which resonated as much more truthful to me.
As an aside, did anyone else think the younger brother character, Johnny, was modeled after the Fassbinder character Eugen from Ali: Fear Eats the Soul? Homage or coincidence?

[Michael]

Lee, I really enjoyed reading your take on Junebug. Thanks for sharing your personal experiences which I found quite enlightening.. at least for me to appreciate Junebug much deeper. I saw the film earlier this year and I have to say that it continues to linger in my mind. Have you seen Loggerheads? It takes place in the same territory as Junebug and it's a very lovely film.

As an aside, did anyone else think the younger brother character, Johnny, was modeled after the Fassbinder character Eugen from Ali: Fear Eats the Soul? Homage or coincidence?

Interesting. He looks kinda like young Fassbinder.

[Macintosh]

I live in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where Junebug and George Washington were both shot. I'll have to check out Loggerheads, it looks interesting.

[LeeB.Sims]

I hadn't actually heard of Loggerheads until you mentioned it in this thread. I checked it out on IMDB but don't know if it would be available at my incredibly mainstream local video store. I'll certainly keep an eye out for it. Aren't David Gordon Green's first two movies also filmed in the same area?
EDIT: just saw the last post, question answered.

[Michael]

Loggerheads is available at a number of Blockbuster stores here in the heart of Florida so your local Blockbuster might carry it.

[Dear Catastrophe Totoro]

I agree with you, Lee, except I would take it a step further to say that George feels some personal pain that he has no way to relate to his family. His family wants him to be a specific way, and the only thing he can do is comply. Note when Peggy tells him he's perfect at the end that for a split second he looks hurt. The truth is that the real George would be as unaccepted in his home as the outsider artist was at the baby shower (and George is aligned with the artist by his comment in the beginning that a painting, possibly belonging to the outsider artist, makes him happy). The younger brother wanted to follow his brother and escape, but he became stuck in the home by getting Ashley pregnant, so he has to continue to fight for validation, where his brother can march right in whenever he wants to and achieve instant perfection in his mother's eyes. I also sense that George learned his survival tactic from his father, Eugene - in fact, if George isn't having sex with Madeleine, or staring at the artifacts of his old life that seem so alien, he's quietly sharing time with his father. There seems to be an unspoken bond there, as if they are both in on the painful realization that sometimes even your family doesn't want to know the real you.

At the end of the film, the camera becomes handheld, a distinct break from the static shots in the house (I almost view the house as a battlefield, with shots declaring boundaries - the kitchen being the primary battleground between Peggy and Johnny), as if the film is loosening it's tie, giving permission for George and Madeleine to finally relax. However, we only really see the backs of their heads, possibly revealing that we don't really know much about them, and that they might not know much about each other. I find it hard to read a definite meaning from the last shot.

Just out of curiosity, is anyone up for discussing the meaning of Junebug in the film? The title shot is a dark forest, which we see later, when Madeleine is crying for the baby, sitting at Eugene's side. Did Madeleine's actions lead to the baby's death? Is it saying that these red and blue state divisions cannot be mended, that they are as old as the civil war, and it will continue to divide family, brother against brother (if you allow me to go over the top for a moment)? Ashley thought the world of Madeleine, and she snubbed her. Did that contribute to her not wanting to use the fetal monitor, as if she felt her baby's birth was no longer important? It sounds extreme, but Johnny already didn't seem to want the baby, and Ashley is clearly an emotional character. When Madeleine doesn't go with them to the hospital, we see her facing the neighbor lady. Madeleine waves, she waves back, then we jump back to see Madeleine already on the way back inside, talking on her cell phone. The neighbor lady then walks back inside, as if a result of Madeleine leaving. She passes several junebugs flying in circles. Is the film saying that family is temporary and should be appreciated, or did Madeleine hurt Ashley, making her feel as if her child was not important? Both thoughts seem to fit.

[Michael]

Very nice observations. I wish I could add more but I need to revisit Junebug hopefully soon.[/b]

From Amazon. I find it worthy to read.

This movie is full of symbolism. Had the director's name been Igmar Bergman, it would have won prizes! Having grown up near the location of this movie, it caused me pain and embarrassment. It captured life that I knew as a child and to some extent today perfectly. I knew many of those characters. The realism was in the characters, the homes, and the landscapes down to the red clay soil. The house that the autistic painter lived in reminded me of my great grandmother's house and the houses of some of my grand-aunts. It caused me pain because of the realism. It caused me embarrassment because that's from when I came and it's not too pretty.

The realism included the attitudes, too. There are certain things Southerners feel and communicate in a subtle way. For example, they always feel that outsiders think themselves are better than Southerners. It's probably some deep seated inferiority complex. Southerners are not prone to boasting so it was no surprise when Madeleine learned that George could sing. The hymn, too, was "symbolic" all about coming home and sins being forgiven.

The motif of family also pained me because I struggle within myself about having left my Southern "family." The value of family was implied more than stated -- except for when George told Madeleine that "family matters". The fact that Ashley was having a baby and then lost it is also like Southerners (and maybe the whole world, I don't know) will try to solve family problems with more family. All the family was isolated and lonely and yet so close (the same house). Ashley comes across as a silly ignorant girl but a few times she revealed why she was talking so much. In the kitchen when George and Madeline just arrived and Peg, Johnny, Ashley, and Madeline are around the table getting to know each other, there was an incident where Ashley interrupted with a silly question to protect Madeline from having to answer Peg's question.
The South I grew up in had this uneasy relationship between religion and sex. That theme came out in the movie, too. There was Johnny's misinterpretation of Madeline trying to help him, there was the art from Mr. Walk, there was Peg concluding things about Madeline staying up late at night to help Johnny, and there were the looks in the church, oh and the nightly sex in only one bedroom -- George and Madeline's. They were the ones that had "escaped."

Escape is another theme. It came out in Huck Finn - the book Johnny was (supposed to be) reading. Instead he choose to read the Cliff notes. He said it was "too long." Madeline first asked if he thought it was funny. It wasn't funny to him because he wanted to escape but couldn't. It was depressing to him. However, he did escape at work. There he had an honest "family" without the blood bond obligations.

Ashley also wanted to escape: go to college, go to the mall, etc.
Mr. Walk (notice the name -- symbolic, he'd '"walked" out of the quagmire through his autism and art) always painted pictures of the three things that shape Southern thought the most: slavery, the Civil war, and sex (Robert E. Lee's penis wrapped around to the back of the painting (symbolic of "hiding" sex)). I don't recall the details but each painting I saw rang a bell with some theme in Southern psyche and/or the dysfunctional Southern family. He put faces on the characters - face of people that stuck in his mind. It struck me that had the movie not gone by so fast that probably those characters had something in common -- the face and the painter character, that is. George was on one of the revolting slaves. Perhaps George had been a slave to the family but had revolted and moved away.

Mr. Walk in some ways was like one of Shakespeare's court jesters, stating the oblivious (although Ashley might fit this role, too, at times at least). His recitation at the table after Ashley said the prayer was fantastic. As I write this I don't recall it but I recall thinking it parallel to the family situation even though it was about a Civil War battle.
Then there were the birds, one of which Madeline broke when she first arrived. Birds can fly. Members of the family wanted to fly away but that family bond kept them there.

The Dad (don't recall his name) choose to escape a different way. He went down in the basement. He retreated there anytime he couldn't deal with family things like Johnny's obnoxiousness or George & Madeline kissing in the car when they first arrived. He choose to communicate with things -- he carved a bird for Peg (I assume to replace the broken one).

In fact, all the Southerners created things: Peg made Ashley's maternity dresses, the Dad did woodworking, Johnny worked on cars. (Ok, maybe Ashley didn't). Art is also an important motif. Madeline was an art dealer specializing in self-taught artists. That self-taught part strikes a chord with me because Southerners are too proud to be "taught." This was especially true of Johnny who was reluctantly getting his GED. Ashley mentioned that she'd like to go to College but as she mentioned, she had no family, so maybe that exempts her from the family issues. It's this whole thing about family creating these overbearing emotional problems and the way the escape is art (painting, woodworking, etc.) Church is also a form of escape. The themes were supported at every turn. Recall the preachers prayer. He spoke of evil at the door and it not coming in. Yet, in the family, the evil was the extreme family bond. Recall also that Peg was shown crying several times. Why? Was she lonely or was she weeping because the family was so dysfunctional? Or because she's to old and trapped to escape. Or all of the above. The Dad said she was hard on the outside but soft on the inside. I guess so. Cigarettes. That is the biggest social problem in the South. Another form of escape? Yet when the escapees (George and Madeline) came down to the South, they also started to smoke - something they hadn't needed to do in Chicago.

Last thing. In the South (I used to do this as a kid), we'd catch Junebugs, tie a string to their hind leg and let them fly in circles for hours. These Junebugs were big, not like those I've occasionally seen in eleewhere. Is it foretelling that the new child would orbit the family, never able to escape the bond of family? Unless, of course it wriggled away or more likely it was released. In the hospital Ashley had the maturity to release George (and Madeline kinda sorta).

[domino harvey]

Yo La Tengo are releasing their score to this and Old Joy, Game 6, and Shortbus via their website

[Svevan]

I'm not a Southerner but the Southern characters in Junebug seemed way off that I'd love to know how the Southerners feel about the film. Is Junebug's image of the Southern culture negative? Stereotypical (backward, ignorant, white trash)? Or is it completely honest?...Are we supposed to see Junebug's Southern characters through an outsider's eyes?

Two years later, I can kind of answer this question. I have a friend who lived in Alabama up until recently, and he recommended this film to me back when it came out for the very fact of its perspective on the South. He grew up and went to college in the South but has since moved to Colorado. Here's what he wrote to me:

"I like how it looks at the South from an outsider perspective but has a detached admiration for most of these people. And yet, certain things in the movie make me think it is very familiar with the South and has deep adoration for it. It's really the only movie I can think of that puts metropolitanism at conflict with this introverted culture and lets the latter basically come out on top."

He also mentioned to me how much he loved a long shot in the film of a woman walking on her yard, not doing anything but absorbing nature; he said that this shot reminded him a lot of the South and its temperament. He also was absorbed with the scene where Ben McKenzie's character sings in the church basement, for two reasons: one, the warmth of McKenzie's song being at odds with the growing alienation between McKenzie and his wife (since it dawned on her that she was the only atheist in the room), and two, the basement looked exactly like his former church's basement.

[PfR73]

It is Alessandro Nivola's character who sings at the potluck, not Ben McKenzie's. Ben McKenzie played Johnny, the younger brother.

[Michael]

Nothing to do with Junebug but I just stumbled on another Southern film, very cheaply made but still so hilarous. Sordid Lives is the name of the film and a friend's enthusiastic recommendation slapped me into watching the series of the same title, still playing on Logo. I like it. Sort of a demented gay love child of Steel Magnolias and Fried Green Tomatoes. A guilty pleasure for sure.