Southern Comfort

Starring:Robert Eads, Lola Cola, Maxwell Scott Anderson, Cas Piotrowski, Corissa Anderson, Stephanie Piotrowski, Bo, Keegan
Director: Kate Davis
Studio: New Video Group
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

More than merely Deliverance in the Louisiana bayou, Walter Hill's taut little tale of weekend-warrior National Guardsmen on swamp exercises reverberates with echoes of Vietnam. Powers Booth brings a hard pragmatism to the "new guy" in the unit, a Texas transplant less than thrilled with his new group. "They're just Louisiana versions of the same rednecks I served with in El Paso," he tells the levelheaded Keith Carradine.

The barely functional unit of city boys and macho rednecks invades the environs of the local Cajun trappers and poachers, "borrowing" the locals' boats and sending bursts of blank rounds over their heads in a show of contempt. Before they know it the dysfunctional strangers in a strange land are on the losing end of a guerrilla war. The swamp rats kill their commanding officer (Peter Coyote) and terrorize the bickering bunch as they flee blindly through the jungle without a map, a compass, or a leader to speak of.

Hill directs with a clean simplicity, creating tension as much from the primal landscape and the Cajuns' unsettling reign of terror as from the dynamics of a platoon of battle virgins tearing itself apart from rage and fear. Ry Cooder's eerie and haunting score and the primal, claustrophobic landscape only intensifies the paranoia as the city boys splinter with infighting (sparked by a bullying Fred Ward), blunder through booby traps and ambushes, and finally turn just as savage as their pursuers in their drive to survive. --Sean Axmaker

Description

From the director of The Long Riders comes this eye-widening, gut-wrenching tale of backwoods terror that draws you into the eerily beautiful Louisiana bayou...then has you running for your life (Pauline Kael, New Yorker)! Keith Carradine, Powers Boothe and Peter Coyote lead a first-rate ensemble (Newsweek) in this exciting, arresting and tautly told suspenser (Variety). When nine National Guardsmen enter the Louisiana swamp for routine training, they are unaware that just a handful of their ranks will make it out alive. Through an error in judgment, they incite an all-out war with some angry Cajuns who know the territory like the backs of their hands. Armed with a precious few bullets, and confused by the dimly lit, moss-covered maze into which they ve stumbled, the innocent guardsmen know they'll be picked off one-by-one...until they come up with a solution using the only resources they have left'themselves.

Customer Reviews:

It's SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT.......2007-06-22

If you have watched Platoon, you'll see a great similarity here. The plot was about a group of soldiers killed one by one by unseen enemies. In Platoon, it's the Viet Cong who killed the American soldiers. In Southern Comfort, it's the Cajuns who murdered the National Guardsmen.

What supposed to be a suspenseful movie turned out to be a bland picture. The acting look stiff, fake and unemotional. I was never scared during the whole film. In one scene, a Guardsman, was so frightened that he went crazy. He cut and painted himself just like an Indian who was going to war. And yet the act did not stir up any suspense or emotion at all. On the contrary, the similar scene in Predator is truly gripping.
I prefer The Hunt for Red October and U571. They're greatly suspenseful and entertaining.

If you want to watch this movie, please rent it. Do not buy it. The purchase of this DVD cost me only ten dollars but I still think it's a waste of money.

Very original.......2007-05-30

This is one of the most original movies I ve seen !
One of Walter Hill s best movies!

incomplete.......2006-11-10

Unable to review this movie as at this stage have been unable to play it on our dvd player.....however, we can play it on our computer but have not viewed the complete movie yet!!!

Southern-Fried Film Noir.......2006-09-05

This film came out just as I was finishing a six-year stint with the Louisiana National Guard, so I eagerly went to see it soon after its release. I enjoyed it so much then that I bought a copy on DVD when reminded of it after I bought "Deliverance".
Though there are surface similarities, Southern Comfort is not Deliverance Louisiana-style, though it may have attracted much the same viewers.
I won't rehash the story to a great extent, but I want to point out a few errors in the film before singing its hosannahs. First of all, if the Guard unit started its exercise in the Catahoula swamp and was supposed to pass through the Great Dismal Swamp (they called it the Great Primordial Swamp in the film) to a rendezvous with another unit, there would have been precious few Cajuns as those swamps are north of the Red River. Most Cajuns live south of that river and west of the Mississippi. Secondly, the interstate which "Casper" kept referring to would have been Interstate 20, 100 miles to the north and they'd have crossed many other roads before that. The type of swamp the unit was in would be far more likely south of Interstate 10, 100 miles to the south of where the movie placed them. Finally, there would probably have been at least a couple of the troops who could speak Cajun French. My unit, based at Pineville LA, had a good mix of North Louisiana "rednecks" as Cajuns referred to them and South Louisiana "coon-asses" as the Cajuns called themselves. A lot of the Cajun guys were fluent in Cajun French. As for the troopers themselves, we did have one guy in our unit reminiscent of the wild-eyed punk in the film who got the real trouble started by firing blanks at the Cajun trappers, but beyond that they were a decent bunch of men and women.
With that straightened out, lets talk about the movie. This is a great story about men under stress, how they interact and how they respond to fear. Some keep their heads, some snivel and whine, while others go berserk. You have prototypes of all three in this film. Texas Guard transferee Powers Boothe is the most level-headed of the group, you somehow know that he is going to make it.
The Cajuns themselves are shown as pretty one-dimensional characters until the end, but that's because these particular Cajuns live life in the shadows and are involved in many activities of questionable legality. Only at the end, when Boothe and Carradine seemingly have saved themselves and find themselves in the middle of a real Mardi Gras, is the fun-loving devil may care side of the Cajun soul bared.
That one-armed Cajun trapper who was captured and tortured by the guardsmen spared Boothe and Carradine near the end and gave them directions out of the swamp, but probably only because Boothe had saved him from further torture and he recognised that both guardsmen were essentially decent men. But, as the trapper warns them, the others are not as nice as he is.
Apart from the unlikely storyline itself, you will be transfixed by this Southern-Fried Film Noir. You have people from the outside world pitted against an insular and seemingly peculiar minority. You have the unrelenting gloom of the setting, whether it be in the swamp and all its clues of impending doom, or at the bayou-side Mardi Gras with all sinister symbolism that keeps up the suspense and the viewer on edge. The dark and gloomy atmosphere is sustained by the brooding and mysterious soundtrack by Ry Cooder.
I heartily recommend Southern Comfort to anyone who enjoys dark action films, to those for whom the swamps of Louisiana stir a mixture of curiosity and dread, and for anyone who has not been to backwoods Louisiana who might like to see what a real Cajun party sans tourists may be like.

A THRILLER WITH AN INTERESTING PREMISE!!.......2006-07-17

I highly recommend this film to fans of thrillers, as well as fans of action films! It was a suspenseful movie with lots of action and an interesting premise!
The movie keeps you waiting for what is going to happen next and makes you laugh a few times along the way.
Do yourself a favor and see this nerve-inducing thriller!!!

Average customer rating:

Sensitive, educational and inspirational.
Interesting but limited
Great movie!
Being there is what matters most
Southern Comfort

Southern Comfort
Starring: Robert Eads , Lola Cola , Maxwell Scott Anderson , Cas Piotrowski , and Corissa Anderson
Director: Kate Davis
Manufacturer: New Video Group
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B000089725
Release Date: 2003-03-25

Amazon.com

As Robert Eads puts it in one of the first scenes of this remarkable documentary, he lives in "Bubba-land"--which wouldn't be unusual if Robert weren't a female-to-male transsexual. Southern Comfort chronicles the last year of Robert's life, as he succumbed to, ironically, cervical cancer; over that year, documentarian Kate Davis developed an amazing intimacy with Robert and his adopted family of other transsexuals living in the depths of Georgia, including his vivacious male-to-female transsexual girlfriend Lola. The film's title comes from an annual gathering that Robert describes as "the cotillion of the trans community, the coming-out party"--an event part convention, part high school prom. Every scene testifies to both the enormous difficulties they face and the grace, humor, and sheer will with which they take it all on. It's not surprising Southern Comfort has won numerous awards, including the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. --Bret Fetzer

Description

Rarely has a film garnered such high levels of critical praise as SOUTHERN COMFORT, a breakout hit and winner at nearly 20 major film festivals including the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. From Seattle to Florida, from San Francisco to Berlin, SOUTHERN COM

Customer Reviews:

Sensitive, educational and inspirational........2007-02-20

This incredibly moving and well-done documentary centers on Robert, a F to M transsexual who has love, grace, wisdom, and seems like an ordinary guy in many ways had you not known that he had been born female. The story is also about Robert's many and colorful friends, who, like Robert, have struggled with the rigid labels -- and behaviors assigned to those labels -- by a culture that is intolerant of anyone who dares to deviate from a restricting norm.

The "heart" this documentary displays is rooted in the community of friends, lovers and family, some of whom try to transcend their culture's ideas of what male and female should be. Ultimately, the support and understanding exhibited by most of the people in this film triumph. We learn what it means to be a compassionate human being.

Although Robert died of cervical cancer, as he had never had his uterus removed (ironically, no doctor would agree to treat him), this film is a lasting and memorable tribute to the humanity we are all capable of. Whether you are transsexual, homosexual, bisexual, heterosexual, asexual, or anything in between, this documentary is an inspiration to us in our goal to become more human(e) -- and thus express our true divinity. Highly recommended.

Interesting but limited.......2007-01-10

I ordered this movie as I thought it would be useful for a course on Gender and Identity. while it is an interesting film in its exploration of one mans life I found it tended to romantice his life rather than provide an insight or knowledge into how he coped with the many obstacles that he faced. If one in interested in reviewing how a transgendered person has made their life successful for themselves it is a good film if one is looking for a deeper understanding of transgendered people I did not think it was great. Thank you

Great movie!.......2007-01-09

A great movie that puts into perspective that transgendered people have the same desires and needs as all of us. They're "normal" people, just a little different. It also gives viewers a glimpse of the discrimination transgendered people face, even in today's world. It was a sad movie, but uplifting to know that the main character "Robert" lived his life with honesty and the best that he could given the situation we was dealt in life. It's also touching to see the relationship Robert had with his girlfriend (a male to female transgender). Very good and eyeopening!

Being there is what matters most.......2006-10-14

As a docudrama, Southern Comfort is far from the romantic comedies and action movies that I usually indulge in as part of my leisure viewing. In many ways, however, Southern Comfort would fit well into my Introduction to LGBT Studies course. I already assign texts about the medical discrimination faced by LGBTQ people, and this movie certainly sheds more light on the subject (especially in its "special features" section). I'll definitely recommend it to students this semester, and seriously consider adding it to my syllabus for next semester. I don't know, though, that I feel in a space to watch it with students...to teach/discuss it...

It feels too close to home (literally) and too raw to talk about cancer, and about death and dying. As I watched the film, it struck me that that's exactly what the film was--the chronicling of the last year of Robert Eads' life, the chronicling of his dying. Don't get me wrong, it was a beautifully done film and certainly earned its rewards. I just mean to say that at the heart of the film is not only Eads' life, but his death.

The film opens up in "Spring" when Eads gathers together friends and family for an Easter celebration. He is clearly joyed to have his friends come to his land and to cook for them, and be in community with those he loves and has made his family. His friends are certainly happy to see him, but it's also clear that they've made this time to spend with him because he is dying.

While there are moments where Eads speaks about his cancer on camera, and where his friends do the same, I don't readily recall scenes where they talk about it amongst themselves. What more easily comes to mind are confessional type revelations spoken directly into the camera. In this way, it's not so much a film about cancer, but about the family (biological, and perhaps more importantly chosen) that gathers around and the love shared in the time left, every moment precious.

I guess in the end, while it is still about the words finally being said that for so long had been left unsaid, more importantly it's about the actions taken--the being there--that counts the most.

Southern Comfort.......2006-08-22

This documentary is for the opened minded. I found the film to be informative and wonderful to see the people involved be so loving and accepting of one another. My husband and I watch it every time it comes on. Now we're buying it. No, it's not for children, they would not understand, especially if their parents are closed minded. The film was well done and answered many questions I had.
KM

Average customer rating:

It's SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT
Very original
incomplete
Southern-Fried Film Noir
A THRILLER WITH AN INTERESTING PREMISE!!

Southern Comfort [Region 2]
Starring: Keith Carradine , Powers Boothe , Fred Ward , Franklyn Seales , and T.K. Carter
Director: Walter Hill
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Thrillers | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00004W4H7

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

It's SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT.......2007-06-22

Very original.......2007-05-30

This is one of the most original movies I ve seen !
One of Walter Hill s best movies!

incomplete.......2006-11-10

Unable to review this movie as at this stage have been unable to play it on our dvd player.....however, we can play it on our computer but have not viewed the complete movie yet!!!

Southern-Fried Film Noir.......2006-09-05

A THRILLER WITH AN INTERESTING PREMISE!!.......2006-07-17

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