This lyric, mythic short is considered by many to be the harbinger of Zeitlin's 2012 independent feature film, "Beasts of the Southern Wild" (an unexpected breakout success on every critic's must see list.) That said, I found it a cathartic, beautiful work in its own right. Lose yourself in the experience, *have no expectations*, and it is (in my opinion) even more powerful than "Beasts"...it is certainly less constructed. This short piece tells your heart a story, and your brain follows after. Benh Zeitlin and his Court 13 cohort pull off a magic trick by creating and assembling scenes as if they were found objects, yet there is plot and narrative (literally--the narration is vital to absorbing the tale) enough for the most linear of thinkers. "Glory at Sea" is included as an extra on the "Beasts" blu-ray; I recommend watching it *after* "Beasts".
2 Reviews
Before Beasts
Horst_In_Translation31 July 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Filmmaker Benh Zeitlin mostly worked on short films before his huge success "Beasts of the Southern Wild" and "Glory at Sea", which sounds a like a military battle film, was his last short film effort even if it was still some years to go till his 2 Oscar nominations. Nonetheless you could already see quite some parallels between this and Beasts. Not only is the location the same, the topic is also pretty similar. I actually quite liked the start of the film with the underwater recordings, but sadly things did not stay that well. This 25-minute short movie is really (if at all) worth a watch only for the atmospheric setting. Compared to Beasts, it lacks performances as good as Wallis and Henry's and it lacks the excellent coming-of-age story. I found Zeitlin's work here rather underwhelming I just say. Not recommended. The material in this one is simply not interesting enough for over 10 minutes.
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