Movie Reviews for The Yearling

The Yearling

	Our Price: $63.21 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $38.59 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases

Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

Movie Reviews of The Yearling

Movie Review: Family Drama in Florida's Scrublands
Summary: 4 Stars

First of all, this is a 1946 film, so young viewers used to contemporary quick video-style scene cuts and an emphasis on action over character may not have the patience to sit through this lyrical story.

The author of the book, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, grew up in the Florida Everglades, and the film's director, Clarence Brown, depicts beautifully photographed scenes of the flora and fauna of Florida's northern region. While Jody Baxter, a lonely 12-year-old, is the central protagonist, the film delves into mature themes such as man's struggle against nature for survival, what constitutes our measurement of wealth, how our experiences shape the way we perceive and approach life, and how events can precipitate the transition from adolescence to adulthood. The book received the Pulitzer Prize in 1939, and the film was nominated for academy awards in the categories best film, best actor, best actress, best director, and best film editing. Gregory Peck, Jane Wyman and Claude Jarman star in the lead roles, with some of Hollywood's best character actors playing colorful supporting roles.

The Yearling takes place in northeast Florida during the late 1870s. Jody's father, the shrewd but softhearted Penny Baxter (Peck), is a former rebel soldier trying to eke out a living for his family on a small farm. His somber wife, Orry (Wyman), has been so emotionally depleted by the deaths of several children that she cannot show love for Jody, her remaining child, for fear of losing him too. Jody, a wistful daydreamer, would rather explore the surrounding scrublands than attend to his chores, and his father, well aware of his son's loneliness, tends to forgive and indulge him, leaving Orry the role of disciplinarian and harsh realist.

The relationship between Penny and Jody is a wonderful example of a father passing on moral and ethical values, as well as the practical skills needed to survive in life. Penny shows Jody how to earn the respect of their fierce neighbors, the Forresters, how to plant crops and to hunt. In fact, it is during a bear hunt that Penny is bitten by a rattler and must shoot a doe to save his life. Not long after, Jody discovers and adopts -- against his parents' advice -- the doe's orphaned fawn, which he names Flag. His subsequent attempts to domesticate Flag and his relationship with a crippled Forrester boy, Fodderwing, lead him to the defining moments that mark his coming of age.

If you enjoy movies of past decades and stories of family life and character development, I highly recommend this film. I only wish it came in the widescreen view.

Movie Review: Yearling
Summary: 4 Stars

I got this and 3 other movies particularly for my "grand" niece so that she would be exposed to the great film classics of yesteryear. She loved every one of them. I rate this movie 4 stars!

Movie Review: HUH ?!
Summary: 4 Stars

Does it strike anybody else kind of odd that the DVD cover art for this film features a mountainous background ? The entire story is set in Florida !?

Movie Review: Sad movie of a young boy and his fawn
Summary: 3 Stars

I received this video quickly, safely, and well packaged. It was i who had forgotten the story of "The Yearling." This was too sad for me, a grandmother, and probably is too sad for others.

However, I want to emphasis that my purchase through Amazon.com went perfectly. Just a story I could not watch for a second time.