'Mudbound' raises the theme of racial inequality to a higher level by making the conflict personal

Racial disparity is a familiar subject and may have been too much lifted by Hollywood dramas. But Mudbound raised it to a higher level by making personal conflicts. There are many characters and there are several plots, but we feel close to everything. The drama is not manipulative because it comes from the emotions of characters that resonate with us. The setting of the 1940s did not make it less relevant. This is a humanitarian issue that we are up to now. Yup, even in Indonesia. Familiar with "Chinese" calls?

Mudbound tells the story of the fate of two families. The first is the white family, the McAllans family and the only black family, the Jacksons family. These people actually share similarities: (1) both are poor, and (2) both fight against it. However, they make a difference in social strata as a barrier. You're both misquin, isn't it compact?

This film uses a changing perspective. Director Dee Rees composed a structure that allowed the six main characters to narrate their respective stories. But this does not reduce the magnitude of the framework into fragments, let alone make the film episodic. This precisely gives them each spotlight that will guide us to see their lives from their point of view.

Henry McAllan (Jason Clarke) is a man who is strong and sympathetic but also stubborn and insensitive. In order to get a better life, he brought his wife and children from a comfortable life in the city to a village far from everywhere to work on a large agricultural land. He was too embarrassed to admit his mistake in making a decision to his father (Jonathan Banks) and was too ignorant of the wife's pain.

Laura McAllan (Carey Mulligan) is Henry's wife. Raised in a sociable family, Laura was never close to a man until she was three-headed, so it was just a matter of being edited by Henry. Laura became a devout wife. He was also obedient when he was carried away by Henry to a modest house in a village that had no access to electricity and clean water or when he had to live with his in-laws who were fond of grumbling. Laura's only protest was that her favorite piano should not be thrown away.

Jamie McAllan (Garrett Hedlund) is Henry's younger brother. Handsome and charming, Jamie became a girl idol, even at one time almost stole Laura's heart. But World War II forced him into the battlefield by becoming a bomber pilot. He returned in a state of trauma, no longer a lover of women but a connoisseur of alcohol.

The McAllan family is the owner of the land, while the majority work on the land is the Jackson family. Jackson's family life is more difficult. Their homes are smaller, their children are more numerous, and they do not have assets other than physical things that must be slammed from morning to night. They are not slaves of the McAllan family, but look more like that. The head of his family is Hap Jackson (Rob Morgan), a hard-working man who dreams of owning his own land.

Florence Jackson (Mary J. Blige) is the wife of Hap. Raised in a slave family, Florence vowed not to care for other people's children like her mother. He will only raise his own child. But a tragedy made him unable to refuse his heart's call as a mother. After all, Florence realized she actually shared the same fate as Laura. They both just want to protect their children from the rigors of the world.

Ronsel Jackson (Jason Mitchell) is the eldest son of the Jackson family who was sent to the battlefield as a commander of tank troops. In Europe, he was hailed as a war hero, but when he returned home, he was only a young black man who was considered presumptuous because he was shopping in a shop, he was respected.

Ronsel's return happened to coincide with the return of Jamie. Feeling like a friend in arms, both of them immediately became close. Sharing drinks and cigarettes while sharing stories about trauma and the past, where race is no longer a substantial problem. But every time Jamie took Ronsel up in his car, Ronsel had to look down at any time because this was a time when there were no whites who were friends with blacks. When life becomes increasingly difficult, the dynamics between these two families become increasingly complicated. There are no signs of happiness coming. The culmination of course is melodrama, but Mudbound does not present it with a smile.

These six different narratives build a solid unified story. And it is supported by a simple but powerful performance from all players. It seems that no one gave a half-hearted appearance. And even though this film is produced by Netflix, the production system is solid. We are truly made to believe that these six characters live in poverty; simple life in a complex world. White and black characters get equal emotional and moral weight. He does not merely exploit black pain, instead of inviting us to see nuances in their conflict.

Mudbound was adapted from the best-selling novel by Hillary Jordan and I can imagine how densely the book saw the film which was full of characters, subplots and a long time span. The scope is very large, so it's amazing when I see the work of Rees here is so focused. The story is not messy. Rees like never losing grip on the material, while injecting sensitivity consistently throughout the film. We understand what character is natural, what they think, and what they dream of. Without needing to do it directly, this film challenges our consciousness.