Entertainment
Shotgun Stories is a Masterpiece
Greg Kaczynski |
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 Experiencing Jeff Nichols’ somber, terrifying Shotgun Stories as it ruthlessly unfurls its violent tentacles is exhilarating. In his feature debut, Nichols creates a world that is understated and real, a world that everyone is familiar with, maybe not from personal ordeals, but from a gut feeling. Shotgun Stories is about the pettiness of revenge, its cyclical nature and the knowledge of all involved that it can never amount to anything good.
Son (Michael Shannon), Kid (Barlow Jacobs) and Boy Hayes (Douglas Ligon) were abandoned by their father at a young age, leaving them in a poor part of England, Arkansas with only a disinterested mother to look over them. As time went on, their father reformed his ways and started over. He became a success and started a new family in the good part of town, with nice cars and good clothes. On the day that he dies, the Hayes boys crash their estranged father’s funeral and Son says a few honest words of his own, creating a thick layer of tension that doesn’t release until the credits roll.
In a nutshell, that is what Shotgun Stories is about, and not much else should be and will be said about its plot. It’s not knowing what’s going to happen next that makes this film tick away so mercilessly.
 The vast, emptiness of England, Arkansas is captured handily by Nichols with extremely wide-angle, panoramic shots of the flatlands and near-abandoned streets with many buildings falling into disrepair. This is the world he gives us: a city on the brink of desperation, a population that seems to be entirely at a dead end, a breeding ground for excessive bravado. It’s a small town, and word gets around; reputations are valuable here, and pride equally so.
Within this bleakness, Nichols gives us three boys who are living on their own, trying to survive and still take care of each other. The actors are phenomenal as they bring these men to life, men who have had to fend for themselves their whole lives, tough guys. Yet they still culture a genuine, layered quality to each of the characters, a quiet, sympathetic reality that exists behind every measured interaction.
The unusual thing is that by normal standards, these boys would be the “bad guys,” the trouble makers, the kids from the wrong side of the tracks, but there is an understood humanity to their actions, and they somehow become misguided heroes.
 On the other hand, the rival family, the four half-brothers, really aren’t terrible people either. They’re just trying to live their lives and deal with their father’s death with respect and move on.
It’s hard to find fault with any of the characters, and that’s where Nichols gets the audience, the truly terrifying thing about this film. Every single one of us has felt the sting of insult, has played out pretend revenge on the person who hurt them, and Shotgun Stories is about what happens when someone does follow through and the unstoppable ripple that it causes. It’s something we can all relate to in one way or another.
Behind these men and their actions, a folksy guitar quietly plays through most of the soundtrack, accompanied by the restless wind. A dangling sign bangs hollowly against its post. At one point, one of the Hayes brothers mentions how dead the town is, and audiences can actually feel it. The setting and the characters are so masterfully intertwined that the viewer cannot help but be sucked into this barren world; at no point in the movie does any character ever mention wanting to leave England, Arkansas. It’s not even considered an option.
 It’s this simplicity, both in the setting and in the characters, that really allows the story to shine. This film is about basic principles: pride, respect, family. The lives of these men are not complicated; even the Hayes boys, who have come from a difficult childhood, take every day as it comes. They do what they have to do. When their father dies, Son is compelled to say something at his funeral, when that insult is dropped, the other boys have to retaliate, and it’s such simplicity that helps bring the noose tighter every minute of the film. It’s a train wreck and the viewer absolutely cannot turn away.
It’s a shame that Shotgun Stories will probably not be seen by a lot of people. It doesn’t have the vast coffers of advertising money that the major Hollywood studios have to throw at their upcoming blockbusters, and yet it is a powder keg of tension that can easily match and quite possibly topple the best that Hollywood is dishing out. It’s up for a 2008 John Cassavetes award, and hopefully that recognition will bring it some much deserved attention, but chances are good that Jeff Nichols and his bleak, raw story will not be flickering on too many screens across the country.
 It’s a double shame because the way that the boys, all of them, act in this situation can easily be seen reflected in our global culture, by most every world power. The inability to be humble, the inability to back down and apologize, the machismo factor: all of these elements are human and magnified by the amount of power and wealth an individual has behind him or herself. Here we have a gang of lower-middle class boys who have the same problem, and the havoc they wreak will rend the audience speechless.
When a movie doesn’t only affect the viewer but also provides illumination on the viewer’s own life and world, that’s what makes a masterpiece. Shotgun Stories does just that.
Shotgun Stories is now playing in limited release.
For more information, visit shotgunstories.com.
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