Undertow

UNDERTOW is the third film from David Gordon Green. His films are recognizable and textile, and the added bits of implanted importance in UNDERTOW make it all the better. The best way I can describe the film is as a mix of the plot of NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, a sultry southern evening, and cautionary tales of family. The film is concerned with the lives of two strange and isolated children living under a demanding father (Dermot Mulroney). One day, their lives are changed when their absent uncle shows up, tells a tale of mexican gold, and begins to chase the frightened children. There really isn't much to UNDERTOW except emotion and appearance. It could be called a slow film, but its nice to revel in moments rather than skip them by. Green creates a poetic and engrossing film that never feels pretentious, and in its awkwardness it is, perhaps, grand. The way that Green creates a romance at the beginning and adds all the tension to be mustered within it is brilliant, as later on we see how a seemingly simple act can doom a character later on. There's a sense of constant renewal and returning in UNDERTOW, as if the boys have returned to a truth, or where they were going to end up inevitably. UNDERTOW is almost as good as Green's great first film, GEORGE WASHINGTON, and has many of the same dark themes.