The Grapes of Wrath is a film adaptation of the fictional novel written by John Steinbeck in 1939. The film was directed by John Ford who was considered the most celebrated American film director and featured some of the best actors of its time like Henry Fonda and Jane Darwell to name a few. In the movie, we meet the protagonist Tom Joad when he is coming home after serving a four-year prison sentence for murder. In this incredibly sober and beautifully crafted film, we are plunged into a poor farming family's struggles during the Great Depression of 1929 -1939 and the Dust Bowl. As we follow Tom along, he meets Jim Casy, a former preacher that has given up his life of service. Both men then set off for Tom's family farm only to find it deserted like that of all his neighbors. There both men find Muley Graves who is a fellow farmer and neighbor. He proceeds to explain that all the farmers have been forced off their land by big landowners, and together the tree man set off to Tom's uncles' farm where they find the rest of Tom's family as they are preparing to leave the only home they have known for generations. From this point, the film follows Tom, his family, and his friends as they set into a long, arduous and trying quest as they travel from Oklahoma, through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and finally to their destination in California as they search for work.
Analysis of Plot Elements
There are so many powerful and moving plot elements in this movie. Early in the story, you can sense elements of personal conflict. One of the scenes that for me exemplified this personal conflict first in the film is the scene at the beginning of the movie when Tom, Jim, and Muley are hiding from the superintendent. The animosity, frustration, and fear are for the superintendent, and vice versa is palpable, and it saturates the scene. But the story centers in the age-old struggle of man vs. environment as the Joads are driven from their home by hard economic times, the drought and changes to the agricultural landscape in Oklahoma. This struggle is the inciting incident which sets in motion the family's travel from Oklahoma to California and sets off our elements of progressive complication, crisis, climax and resolution in this storyline. The progressive difficulty occurs as a series of events unfold as it becomes clear that grandpa Joad is in decline and MA takes the leadership role of the family. It continues through a series of ups and downs throughout their trip as they pass through different states. Some examples that were very powerful to me while watching this film were the dead of grandpa Joad early on in their trip & the scene at the truck stop. The movie clearly depicted the values of life/dead & hate/compassion beautifully. The Grapes of Wrath movie continues as the family arrives at Hooverville to discover appalling migrant conditions. This is followed by Tom and Casy's fight with the policy and Casy's arrest. Then the family is forced to flee and subsequently arrive at Weedpatch camp, but immediately unknown to Tom and his family there is tension between the workers as the people who run the field barely pay enough for people to eat. Things come to a head when Tom unknowingly discovers a group of strikers lead by none other than his friend Casy who was released from Jail. Then we enter the climax when Casy is killed when he was stroked by the police officers, and Tom kills a police officer in return.
The creative elements
The characters are represented in a very human and raw way. The actors' performances were truly stunning. One of the scenes that touched me deeply was when Ma Joad was destroying her pictures and packing on their last night in Oklahoma. Her eyes said it all. Mrs. Darwell was an outstanding actress. Grandpa Joad's performance also added so much emotion to the scene on the family's last day in Oklahoma as he fought and had had to be consoled and put in the truck as a child. Concerning the cinematography, for its time, even though the movie is in black and white, it is surprisingly crisp looking, and you are able to distinguish the scenes well enough.
I usually do not enjoy black and white films. But this film has converted me. I truly enjoyed how the themes of individuals vs. community, meekness vs. wrath and selfishness vs. kindness were portrayed. This movie is in my opinion timeless. It truly represented the struggles of the poor and their desire for their basic needs like food, shelter, and safety to be met. I think that this movie is very sobering in an age of consumerism in which many people just want the latest gadget irrespective of consequences. In conclusion, I would recommend it as a sobering, enjoyable departure of modern Hollywood.
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- Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2019
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Top reviews from other countries
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Cliente AmazonReviewed in Italy on October 23, 2023
Cinque stelle su tutta la linea
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Antonio MoraisReviewed in Spain on October 10, 2021
Imperdível rever está triste obra de 2 mestres.
- Arnab TalukdarReviewed in India on November 27, 2016
One of the best adaptation of Steinbeck novel and the cast and crew ...
