This may very well be the most depressing movie I have ever seen. The scene where they buy bread from the diner, is so pathetic it is extremely hard not to feel for the Joads. Henry Fonda's acting is superb, but I think it is Jane Darwell, who plays Ma Joad that steals the show. In the darkest of situations she evokes such optimism and hope. Her acting, combined with John Ford's close-ups of her as she talks, add to depth to the horrid circumstances.
shareThe "bread scene" was a great one. "It is like they says, It had soul." It might very well be the most memorable and touching scene in the film. I at least thought so.
I just finished watching it now, and it was a good piece of film. As for the depression, it was there. But I have watched so many films, and seen so much injustice, that it did not strike me very hard. Hehe, and I am only 19.
For me, the film started when we were introduced to grandpa and grandma. The grandpa made me smile and laugh, while the grandma just sat there smiling so nicely. But it was not much we saw of old gramps.
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You were there during the depression huh? Only 19 huh?
Well guess what you might just be here during another depression. The one that is coming up in this country because of what the war has done to the economy.
http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/index.jsp?cid=186977
The Truth is out there.
Um. Not taking the piss but the dude said 'it was there' not 'I was there'
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There are better things in life than alcohol, but alcohol makes up for not having them.
The person edited their post.
It did say "I".
I am glad it was a typo.
http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/index.jsp?cid=186977
The Truth is out there.
My favorite.
From the stories I heard from my grandparents about the Great Depression - life was really really hard.
My great grandmother was a seamstress. Christmas was coming and a destitute man asked her if she could repair his little daughter's old coat so she would have a Christmas gift. This was in New York City where it is really cold in December. The coat was so full of holes that it was not really repairable. So she took the coat apart, figured out the pattern, and using some material that she had, she made her own gift of a new coat for the man to give his daughter.
Illegitimus!
I just watched this movie for the first time and was really gripped by it. It haunted me. I have to say I've always been rather leery of it because it did appear to be such a dreary story. But I have recently been getting into classic films. Now I am wondering if I should tackle the book.
I just can't imagine how people today would ever cope with the things that "the greatest generation" and those that came before did, like WWII and the Great Depression. During the part in the film when Mulie's house is mowed down by the tractor I just feel SOOOO socked in the gut. I'm flabberghasted!
Those folks back then are almost super heroes in my eyes. This story in the previous comment about the grandmother making a coat for a poor child is a case in point. This milk of human kindmess seems like such a rarity nowadays. But then something like hurricane Katrina happens and it really brings out the best in us.
God bless the Joads of the world.
The movie was depressing, but the book was REALLY, REALLY depresssing and draining. The book is long, and after reading it for days and days, I was thoroughly caught up in the Joad's trials and tribulations. By the time I got through reading it, I found myself even talking like the Joads.
shareI agree with the OP, Ma is the backbone of the "fambly" and tries her best to keep them together even though things all around her are falling apart.
The most depressing scene involving Ma, IMO, is at the camp where very hungry children realize she's cooking supper and come crowding around with almost-hope in their eyes. Ma asks if they've "et", and none of them have save for a boy and his brother who lie about having eaten to save pride and run away. All of the grown Joads are guilty and won't eat in front of hungry kids, so Ma cleverly thinks of a way where she feeds her family first and then the hungry kids can have what's left over from scraping it up with a flat stick they find. That sets the kids off to being busy finding flat sticks and then coming back to spoon up whatever's left. It's depressing because those children were simply wandering where food was smelled and hoped for a handout. I have a soft spot for animals, children, and the elderly, and those were the most helpless during that time period. None of either category should ever go without, IMO.
Yes, this has to be the singularly most depressing film I've ever watched. So terribly sad.
I also agree about Ma Joad. The actress was so outstanding and, IMO, was the true star of this movie. Ma holds everything together for the family when the world around them falls apart. She soothes the elderly and is a loving mama hen to the rest. She epitomizes the "bloom where you're planted" philosophy.
In addition to some of the other scenes mentioned, the one where they're packing up to leave Oklahoma and she finds an old pair of earrings...the way she held them up to her ears, the look on her face (clearly remembering better times), then slipping them in her pocket to take with her...so very poignant.
I have to admit that I will probably not ever watch this movie again -- not because it isn't good, but because it is just *that* depressing.
Yes, it's definitely one of the most depressing films ever, and also one of the best, packed with brilliant performances and a wonderful direction.
shareDepressing? Yes, as were the hard times of the Great Depression of the 1930's. Actually, the book is even more depressing.
But at least most of the Okies found steady jobs as the economy improved with the outbreak of World War II and the later post-war boom. Many Okies settled in California's Central valley and its cities like Bakersfield, Fresno, Stockton, etc. Most have since passed, but many of their descendants are living there today.
I guess most farm migrants today are Mexicans. Hope they are treated better.
I agree with you 100%.
"Martha is 108... years old. She weighs somewhat more than that". - Georgeshare
I just finished the book, haven't seen the movie yet but plan to.
I finished to book in about four days and a lot of that time I felt like I was part of the Joad family.
Steinbeck is such a good writer that he draws you in and makes you feel like you are actually there.
I have been concerned for sometime about some sort of cataclysmic event happening to our country or our economy, to the point that I have even been stockpiling some food.
So in reading this book and seeing what can happen to well meaning people, it really quite depressed me at made me even more paranoid.
Having said all of that I thoroughly enjoyed the book and even told my wife that is probably the best book I have ever read.
There must be nothing worse than being in a situation where things are totally out of your control and no matter what you do you can't feed your family.
I think we need to be so thankful that we have evolved to a standard of living
that most people can properly care for themselves and their family and that we should seek out and help those that, for whatever reason, can't provide for themselves.
Reading this book has given me new awareness that there is much suffering going on in the world around us. Makes me want to open up my heart and help.
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I disagree with people that say that this generation could not have survived the Great Depression. You must remember that the 20's were very prosperous and many of the families you see in photos living out of a tent actually did well finacially before the stock market crash of 1929. Kind of sounds like today.
shareMy grandmother's family were millionaires before the stock market crash in 1929. They had oil money as members of the Osage Indian tribe. They lost their wealth due to poor investment choices that were wiped out by the crash and depressed oil prices in the 1930s. After the crash, she and my grandfather lived in the OK panhandle just a mile or two from the NM border, right in the middle of what was to become the dust bowl. They moved south, rather than west. By no means were they the Joads (both had college degrees in business), but they had a hard 10 years or so until the economy improved with the involvement in WWII. Slowly they recovered, but that experience stayed with her forever. When she passed away in 1996, she was again quite wealthy, but was very frugal. She always feared another crash was just around the corner.
Adversity shows what people are truly made of. We may eventually need to respond in the same way our predecessors did in the 1930s.
Today's generation would fall apart. So would I!
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