Film Review: “Fried Green Tomatoes”
Directed by John Avnet, Fried Green Tomatoes is a sensational comic video nominated for two academic video awards. The film tells a story of an era of depression in the friendship of two women, coupled with another friendship in the 1980s. The reception of the movie among the people offered the film an opportunity of attracting global intention. However, the movie attracted criticism especially from the people opposed to the idea of lesbian content in the film. This paper analyzes the film by pointing out areas that the author and director failed to bring out clearly to the viewers.
The development of the characters in the movie brings out their maturity clearly. The plot clearly brings out the entire main characters and situations that led to their current states like Evelyn Couch when she tells of her unhappiness to Ninny Threadgoode (Zganjar 8). However, the director and author of the film failed to show the growth and development of the minor and supportive characters in the film. The film also links the lives of the characters well. It switches between the present and the past in order to give the viewer a feeling of the reasons behind the events that unfold among the characters. However, Ninny Threadgoode’s story of the past elicits feelings that she has undergone a lot of solitude especially after the death of his brother (Zganjar 12).
The setting of the film was appropriate considering the fact that it relied on a story that had been drafted earlier. The town chosen, according to the movie director, was almost deserted hence a good setting to bring about the intended effects of the world wars. The building chosen had been a hardware store but the design and architecture made it ideal for the film as it looked exactly like a cafe. This provided for the creativity of the director to ensure that the viewer has the concept without feeling delink between the building and the intended effect. However, the film fails to get a link between the origin of the authors and the building. The characters do not exhibit a relationship with the cafe, which would come out clearly, if one of the actors could have a relative who worked in the cafe. The whistle stop cafe thus attracts the plot and character development in the film but fails to get the relationship with the environment among the characters.
The plot of the film gives a mature analysis of life in the film. The director and author of the film begin by introducing the film and the reason for them to place it in a priority position, citing the setting as a motivation. In the plot, the characters have the opportunity to grow, like Ninny Threadgoode from a sister who loved her brother so much to the loneliness and solitude after losing him to death. The plot of the film also allows for the focus of viewers on setting, the whistle stop café, which is a strategy for people not to focus on the weaknesses of the characters so much. However, the plot fails to infuse the cultural and social differences among the viewers by infusing the lesbian parts, which attracted relative criticism from the people.
The film ends very well. After the trial in which the judge ruled that the death of frank as an accident and Idgie and Big George are cleared of all charges, Ruth dies. The death of Ruth leads to the café being closed (Nolan 29). The closure of the café attracts a lot of attention from the viewers as the author centered the events of the film around the café making the viewer’s eager to know what transpires after the cafe is closed. In essence, the author finished the story in the café with some anxiety in the minds of viewers on the fate of the café after Ruth’s death. However, that is before the story takes a temporary twist, which excites the minds of the viewers. Sipsey actually killed frank while preventing him from raping Buddy. That is a twist that many people want to see how it unfolds but the author chooses to end Ninny’s story on a high. However, the author fails to illuminate of the fate of Sipsey after the revelation. In as much as the suspense created is necessary in the film, the viewer’s are left wondering if the true justice ever happened.
Essentially, the film is a good comic piece, with the plot relevant to the characters and egos of the characters. The film allows the characters to grow as the film progresses hence their maturity in the end. The setting of the film is appropriate s the building resembles what the author had in mind while writing the plot. However, the suspense at the end of the film and the failure to develop the setting of the film to enable the viewer fantasize what may have happened after the film presents a weakness.
Works Cited
Nolan, Michael. "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Irondale Cafe", American Profile, (2002). Print.
Zganjar, Leslie "The Whistle Stop name is just too popular",Birmingham Business Journal. (2002). Print.
