I recently took part in an email chain wherein we discussed the relative importance of world-building versus character development. Needless to say, this discussion didn't reach a resolution as it would be impossible to come to a definitive conclusion on that point. Now, having just looked over that chain of messages again, I realize that it wasn't much of a debate, just a few offhand musings. Still, as I sat down to write a review of the latest indie-film sensation, Beasts of the Southern Wild, the idea of that conversation crept back into my mind.
What element is most important in storytelling, the characters being portrayed or the world they inhabit? I won't be presumptuous enough to try to answer that question. All I'll say is that, in this particular movie, they're of equal importance.
Writer-director Behn Zeitlin (you haven't heard of him, but you will) managed to create a world that is, at once, familiar and entirely unique. And, in that world, he places two of strongest and most distinct characters depicted in recent film. The result is, in my opinion, the best movie of 2012 so far.
