Ballast

I've given myself a wide birth to digest Ballast. It's the kind film that requires the viewer to have a certain amount of patience going into it. It's also the kind of film that people sometimes love to trash on by using terms like pretentious or artsy. I would disagree with those claims but can definitely understand the mindset of those who hold those views. The bottom line is Ballast is the type of film moviegoers should search out only if there looking for a more intimate and honest experience. Those who are perfectly content with the current landscape of modern cinema should probably steer clear of this film. It will probably only bore you. It takes place in the Mississippi Delta in a poor rural black town. It revolves around the lives of three characters who are forced to reconnect because of a tragedy. The actors are all completely unknowns. In fact they are not even real working actors. Which somehow manages to give the picture an authenticity that I don't know it would of otherwise obtained. Its the also the work of first time director, Dustin Lance Hammer who shot the film mostly handheld and yet was able to capture images of amazingly subtle beauty. His screenplay is sparse with dialogue that only adds to its depressing realism. Without going into detail of the plot all I will say is that the film is quiet, slow, and intensely focused on its subjects. It puts its characters lives under a microscope without passing judgement on them and shows us that we are all people in this world just trying to deal with our circumstances the best we can or know how. The ending of the film may feel a bit abrupt but given time to gather my thoughts I feel it keeps perfect tone with a picture that holds us in its reality for its entire length. Sometimes easy and neat conclusions with resolution aren't always available in life, why should film be any different.

B

2008