The Rough South of Larry Brown (2002)

User Rating:

3.5/10   

Director:

Gary Hawkins

Writer:

Gary Hawkins (writer)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

The life and works of Oxford, Miss. fireman-turned-writer Larry Brown are examined in a unique documentary...

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Will Patton	...	Frank in 'Samaritans'
Natalie Canerday	...	Woman in 'Samaritans'
Dakota Smith	...	Boy in Bar in 'Samaritans'
Paul Schneider	...	Voice-over / Man in 'Wild Thing' (voice)
Kendra Cover	...	Wild Thing
Gaye-Taylor Upchurch	...	Wife in 'Wild Thing'
Vic Chesnutt	...	Narrator in 'Boy & Dog'
Justin Stone	...	Boy in 'Boy & Dog'
Brent Burditt	...	Hero in 'Boy & Dog'
Larry Brown	...	Fire Chief in 'Boy & Dog'
David Gordon Green	...	Fireman in 'Boy & Dog'
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Scott Clackum	...	Mustang Driver

Directed by
Gary Hawkins

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Gary Hawkins		writer

Produced by
Jake Froelich	....	executive producer
Sam Froelich	....	producer
James Marcovitz	....	producer
Lisa Muskat	....	producer
Erin Aldridge Orr	....	co-producer (as Erin Aldridge)

Original Music by
Vic Chesnutt

Cinematography by
Alton Chewning
Jason Dowdle
Scott Gardner
Gary Hawkins
Adam Larsen
Tim Orr

Film Editing by
Steven Gonzales

Art Direction by
Sarah Costello		(co-art director)
Matthew McNeil

Art Department
Charlie Dugan	....	set dresser
Ryan Nelson	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Dwayne Avery	....	dialogue editor
Chad Benton	....	sound mixer
Christof Gebert	....	additional sound
John Sisti	....	sound editor
John Sisti	....	sound re-recording mixer
John Sisti	....	supervising sound editor

Visual Effects by
Derek Cernak	....	visual effects
John Cernak	....	visual effects
Rebecca Cernak	....	visual effects
Keith Hobgood	....	visual effects
Danny Oakley	....	visual effects

Editorial Department
Zene Baker	....	additional editor

Music Department
Janice Ginsberg	....	music supervisor

Production Companies

• Blue Moon Filmed Productions
• Down Home Entertainment

Special Effects

• Out of Our Minds Images

Runtime:

79 min | USA:85 min

Country:

USA

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Ledford, North Carolina, USA

Company:

Blue Moon Filmed Productions

Soundtrack:

RAIN from FLOWERING PEACH

An excellent introduction to Larry Brown and his work

THE ROUGH SOUTH OF LARRY BROWN is a film of extraordinary power; Hawkins was able to elicit sincere and revealing comments from both Larry and Mary Annie Brown. He recorded the natural flow of words that provide genuine insights into what it was like to be Larry Brown, a man who determined relatively late in his life that he wanted to write fiction. His first aim was to provide financial support for his family, but ultimately he set out to express himself as a literary artist like those whom he admires, including Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, Raymond Carver, and Harry Crews. Near the end of the film, Brown admits that he still feels in awe of his literary heroes, but, at the same time, takes pride in the degree of success he achieved. Mary Annie Brown, on the other hand, makes clear how hard it was for her and her three children during the years when Brown was working with so much determination to see his work into print.

I asked the Browns to comment on how they came to feel so at ease with the cameras intruding into their lives. Larry said that he had known Gary Hawkins "for a number of years and we became friends." Mary Annie says, "I felt that Gary . . . was a person who would not do anything that would be hurtful to us. I liked Gary the first time I met him. . . . He seemed very caring of how the film would be true to us as a family and of Larry as a writer."

The result of Hawkins's hard work is a film with at least three distinct angles. Hawkins certainly focuses on Larry Brown as a "rough South" writer, but he also put strong emphasis on the Mississippi landscape. The scenes he filmed at Larry's home near Oxford evoke the continued agrarian nature of North Mississippi: its farm land, its remoteness and its torpid heat.

When he began the film, Hawkins did not expect Mary Annie to be "such a large presence" in the film, but she became a vital part of the documentary. Hawkins has said, "You always hear about the writer, you never hear about what it's like to be the spouse of the writer." Hawkins's movie makes that connection clear.

Adaptations of three stories from FACING THE MUSIC provide the third major component of the film. He adaptation of "Samaritans" with Will Patton is particularly poignant.

Overall, and sadly, now that Larry Brown has died, the movie provides unique insights into the writer, his family, and his work that nobody else will be able to document.