Grapes of Wrath

Mintonio S.
Film 2600: 
Film History
Dr. Cathleen Londino
Fall 2011

“Grapes of Wrath” is not a typical movie I would watch but that doesn’t take anything away from it. It is recognized as one of the best movies Hollywood has ever produced. Therefore, I can see how it has made the list. The movie was certainly interesting in the beginning with the release of a man who had committed homicide. This would make one think, is this man good or bad? This in turn would keep the viewer interested as to the type of role this man would play throughout the movie. The fact of the matter is though that this flick in my opinion was a bit dragged out. There were many repetitive scenes that were just plain dull and lost my interest, but that’s just me. Even though I felt this way bout this movie you still get a certain sense of the hardships society went through during the great depression and it certainly paints that picture vividly.

        “The Grapes of Wrath” was a masterpiece that won Steinbeck a Pulitzer-Prize for its ingenious depictions. Steinbeck had written “The Grapes of Wrath” after producing a series of articles for The San Francisco Press about the thousands of farmers from Oklahoma and Arkansas that faced poverty and starvation due to the Great Depression of the 1930’s. Steinbeck’s sympathetic tales had caused a great amount of controversy at the time which led the book to be banned. Although it was banned during its time, in this day and age it is regarded as one of the most admired social protest fictions of the 20th century. {http://www.enotes.com/grapes-of-wrath-criticism/grapes-wrath-john-steinbeck}

Overall, the movie did get its point across and that’s what’s important. It showed the hardships many faced during those times and gives you a sense of taking things for granted. One day you can have the world and the next it can be taken from you. Not my favorite movie but I strongly do encourage one to watch it as it is an all time great.