Junebug post

Maybe it was the three glasses of wine, but I found Junebug to be honestly one of the best movies that I’ve watched in a LONG time. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when it first started, but it soon picked up and I began to see a lot of very familiar aspects of my life in this film. First off was the whole art thing which, being an art major, I can definitely relate. Next was the whole southern culture. I almost felt like I was watching reality television about the South. It was so eerie how familiar the houses, church, and attitudes seemed.

Much of this film seemed to speak about the idea of relationships, what makes them work, and what keeps them going. For Madeline and George it was all about the moment, the excitement and exhilaration of youth (even though she was older). They thrived, it seemed, on a very raw and sexual level. Johnny and Ashley (my favorite character) seemed to have lost that desire and energy in their relationship. Ashley seemed to hold out faith that it would come back, and so she put a burden on her unborn child to fix her relationship. The mother and father’s relationship was less about emotion and more about simply existing. The mother did her thing—the father his, and they occasionally would start a conversation over and issue that needed some attention. Besides that, their existence was shallow and lacked the intensity that the other two couples had.

I guess the part that I really enjoyed about this film was the ending. Or rather what seemed to be a lack of one. Though some loose ends seemed to be tied up, the screwdriver being found, the loss of the baby, Madeline’s signing of the artist, and the eventual departure of Madeline and George, it is clear to see that this movie doesn’t leave all things finished. We’re given the chance to assume that life continues for these people. We see a change in the relationships of all the couples and we can’t help but wonder what happens next. I think this is one of the reasons that this film is so lifelike and so relatable on many different levels.