Le Septième Art

Sahkanaga

I just saw this film tonight, and I was blown away. It centers around an event I remember hearing about when I was about 12 - well I remember asking about and having my mom refuse to explain to me. 

I love this film, for all the easy reasons to love a film. Great plot, acting, directing, cinematography. It’s got an interesting storyline so I’ll recommend it to everyone, but that’s not what I want to talk about. I want to discuss just how much this reflected my experiences of growing up in the south. I was born and raised in and around Charleston, South Carolina. I grew up running up and down the state and into Georgia and North Carolina and those delicious crisp grey and green blueridge mountains, from Kings Mountain to Arden to Shelby and beyond. 

One thing that this reminded me of was a little-loved film, Elizabethtown. Now don’t get me wrong, it suffered terrible reviews, and I can sort of see why but I loved it. And yes, maybe Elizabethtown is a film trying to be something it’s not, which maybe makes this an unfair comparison. Sahkanaga is a better film. But bear with me. There was something about Elizabethtown that captured something in my heart about the south. I think it was too subtle. But it wasn’t subtle. It was a problem. But something about coming home to family and photos and stories and patience… it just really got that southern thing.

So to all my followers, if you get a chance, see Sahkanga.

But to all my southerners, don’t you miss this.

(Source: eatemuptigers)