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Amazon.com essential video: Ranking No. 21 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 greatest American films, this 1940 classic is a bit dated in its noble sentimentality, but it remains a luminous example of Hollywood classicism from the peerless director of mythic Americana, John Ford. Adapted by Nunnally Johnson from John Steinbeck's classic novel, the film tells a simple story about Oklahoma farmers leaving the depression-era dustbowl for the promised land of California, but it's the story's emotional resonance and theme of human perseverance that makes the movie so richly and timelessly rewarding. It's all about the humble Joad family's cross-country trek to escape the economic devastation of their ruined farmland, beginning when Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) returns from a four-year prison term to discover that his family home is empty. He's reunited with his family just as they're setting out for the westbound journey, and thus begins an odyssey of saddening losses and strengthening hopes. As Ma Joad, Oscar-winner Jane Darwell is the embodiment of one of America's greatest social tragedies and the "Okie" spirit of pressing forward against all odds (as she says, "because we're the people"). A documentary-styled production for which Ford and cinematographer Gregg Toland demanded painstaking authenticity, The Grapes of Wrath is much more than a classy, old-fashioned history lesson. With dialogue and scenes that rank among the most moving and memorable ever filmed, it's a classic among classics--simply put, one of the finest films ever made. --Jeff Shannon Customer Reviews: Rating: 
Date: 2008-07-06
Beware of defective DVDs!
I ordered this DVD from Amazon and received a defective copy. There were small pockmarks on the outer edge of the DVD which prevented viewing some of the latter scenes of the movie. I sent this DVD back and got a replacement with the same problem! I sent that back and got a refund. Beware, there appears to be a common manufacturing defect with this particular version of the movie. Rating:
Date: 2008-07-04
cheap is not better
Poor quality disc's. These cheap classic's are made on cheap DVD disc's and have defects from the manufactures process. I have returned two of them so far and and am hoping this is a fluke and not the 'norm'. Rating: 
Date: 2008-06-18
Eye-Opening...
This movie is fantastic, especially if you start to feel a little bit cocky or troubled. To see what our grandparents and great-grandparents lived through, the struggles they faced, puts our complaints into perspective. Rating:
Date: 2008-06-16
A heart rendering film...
Lin Bentolila, a dear friend, gave me the book for my birthday and after reading it, I decided to acquire the DVD movie version. Both gave me a rare view into a time in America that I knew little about. Published in 1939, the Grapes of Wrath is about the brutal and sad time people had to live... shall we say struggle through... and for the lucky some... survive during those days.
The DVD version starts with Tom Joad played by Henry Fonda returning home from a seven year prison sentence, reduced to four for good behavior. He is on parole but tries to get back to his family and the first scenes where he gets bothered by the questions of the truck driver that gives him a lift is simply an excellent way to set the stage for the hardship about to unfold.
When he gets home, he finds that no one is there, they have all abandoned the farm and he begins to understand what has happened because of a conversation with a man who refuses to leave his home.
I learned that back then people entered into agricultural agreements where they did not own the land but were allowed by the owners to use the land in return for a share of the crop produced, and as times got really bad because of the lack of water, the "dust" storms and the inability to produce, they could no longer afford to pay the agreed share and were therefore, run from their land... even though they had worked it for over 70 years seeing many family generations come and go on the land which they called home...
How incredibly sad... simply horrible... The story centers on a family with the last name of Joads and it is so hopeless at times that I felt the pain and sorrow of these characters daring to hope for a better life.
Desperate times, children left without food and without care because parents earned miserable wages and had to go to find whatever work was available. Labor contracts were not respected, conditions were oppressive, and the spark of an attempt to correct the situation was seen as a crime and punished as such.
The emotions are deep and while the family undergoes many trials and desperate moments, they continue to have pride, human dignity, and the willingness to share whatever little they had. The road trip that takes them from their home in Oklahoma to California is at times exasperating because we suffer right along with these characters. The scenes at a road side diner where they buy bread... only able to pay for a 10 cent loaf is heart rendering and it is with a certain sense of trepidation that we realize that times in America today are again desperate for many. Never learning the great lessons from the past, we seem to repeat history over and over again, and between the housing market fiasco, the home foreclosures and the price of gas, let's hope we do not see Americans brought to another period of depression.
This is a must read and must see, while it is depressive, at times shocking, it poses fundamental questions of humanity. How can we live our lives in peace witnessing those who have so much and yet others not being able to eat? How do we ensure that our social systems protect our people from ever having to endure such harsh living conditions? At what point do we stop being human if we stand by and do nothing to change and bring opportunity and the right to work and earn a living to every person willing to work to make a living?
Rating:
Date: 2008-04-20
Depression Tale Still Packs Punch
I've seen "The Grapes of Wrath" any number of times over the last thirty years. I was always blinded by the film's top-notch artistry but I think I was missing the forest for the trees. What dawned on me was that writer John Steinbeck and director John Ford were mad. Not just regular mad but mean and mad. The outrage stems from how a democracy such as ours could mistreat it's citizens at a time when they needed help the most. Adding insult to injury the disenfranchised were subjected to any number of psychological and physical injuries to their person. No wonder the New Deal was such a godsend. And I'm a Republican! Despite the presence of a top-of-the line star in Henry Fonda, Ford and lensman Gregg Toland give the film a cinema-verite style that makes you believe you are watching a documentary instead of a filmed novel. The forlorn faces on display don't appear to come from Central Casting. You can actually taste the dust that's the remnants of the sharecroppers prior trade. Fonda, in probably the best performance of his career, gives an understated account of Tom Joad, parolee turned activist that's both convincing and sincere. Jane Darwell, as Ma Joad, gives one of the all-time great performances by an actress, supporting or otherwise. The worldweariness on Ma's face tells it all. A defining scene in the film is one where Ma tries to feed the family while a group of malnutrioned children look on. You can sense the agony as Ma, with meager food supplies, tries to figure out how to provide for her kin without turning the children away. "The Grapes of Wrath" is not just essential viewing it's mandatory. |
