Take Shelter
Written and Directed
By: Jeff Nichols
Starring: Michael
Shannon, Jessica Chastain, and Tova Stewart
Director of Photography: Adam Stone, Editor: Parke Gregg,
Production Designer: Chad Keith, Original Music: David Wingo
Rated: R for some
foul language
The
wind blows in a strong direction across the plains of Ohio in Jeff Nichols’s Take Shelter. Set among the ominous
clouds, the landscapes of Mr. Nichols’s film seem to recall both the lost past
of an untamed era, but also the possible future of a return to a land of
restless violence. It only makes sense that the protagonist of Take Shelter, the good natured but
easily corrupted Curtis, sees the visions of the end not in terms of fire and
brimstone, but a storm of incontrollable magnitude. The past of both his own
life, as well as that of the world he knows, is seemingly crawling back into
his skin.
And
thus sets the stage for another great American drama with an independent and
unique vision. I missed Mr. Nichols’s first film, Shotgun Stories, which also starred Michael Shannon, but it’s an
immediate catch for me now, as Take
Shelter gives us an intimate look at one man’s battle with his own personal
demons in a setting of Americana. Bathed with gorgeous visuals on this harsh
plain, and supported by electrifying performances, Mr. Nichols had made a film
that speaks volumes about our American psyche but through a truly personal
story.
