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The Southerner

Screening on Film
Directed by Jean Renoir.
With Zachary Scott, Betty Field, J. Carrol Naish.
US, 1945, 35mm, black & white, 92 min.
Print source: HFA

A Southern family struggles to make ends meet as they invest all of their energy into a small, infertile plot of land. Their pluck and determination is met with scorn by the local townspeople, who do nothing to help them overcome their hardship. Renoir's portrait of the American South is often regarded as his strongest Hollywood production. The filmmaker succeeds in capturing the provinciality of a region desperately holding true to tradition in the face of modernization. The film's incisive script features contributions from legendary writer William Faulkner.

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Rosine Mbakam, 2025 McMillan-Stewart Fellow