Little Chenier

The story has a few twist and turns that I didn't expect and overall it was great to see a film made in Louisiana about something besides New Orleans. That said, I worry that anyone outside of Louisiana seeing this film may think we all run around in flat bottom boats and wrestle alligators for fun. Yes, there are a few people like these left near where my family and I live, but they are disappearing as fast as the marshland on the Louisiana coast! The setting for the film is in Cameron Parish along the banks of the Mermentau River. The film doesn't cast the Cameron Parish Sheriff's office in a very good light, but it is a good story and it was told well in the film. There was a scene in the film of a pig roast and crawfish's boil to celebrate a wedding. The food, drink, music and dancing looked and sounded like many a Saturday night in South Louisiana. Little Chenier is a remote place where everyone knows everyone and is a true community in every sense of the word. It was great to see that sense of community come through in the film.

Finally! A movie that portrays Cajuns realistically without fake accents and over-the-top stupidity. This movie shows the soul of the Cajun people and the beauty of the land in which they live.Although the story takes place in the bayous of Louisiana the theme of jealousy is universal and everyone can relate to it no matter where this movie is shown. The music is not your typical "Jolie Blond" french music heard in every Louisiana film. It's french, but beautiful and haunting and helps to unify the film bringing the characters, bayou setting, and music together into one of the best films I've enjoyed in the past months. Bravo!

I enjoyed this film a great deal. In short it did what a film should do, (1) absorb you into its place (2) entertain (3) make you think. How did this film accomplish this? (1)Relatively genuine setting, characters, scenery. (2) Plot moved along swiftly and kept you engaged. Characters were believable. (3)Characters and setting made you think about life in their world.

This film had no "stars" to get in the way of itself which is a nice change of pace. The acting was solid, the plot was good albeit reminiscent of "Of mice and men". Parts of the plot were not spelled out for the audience allowing you to draw some of your own conclusions. In terms of where the movie could have been improved I would say some of the technical cinematography. While there were many beautiful shots that helped establish mood and setting some of the fades/ transitions were a little weak.

To summarize the strengths of this film far outweighed the weaknesses. I would probably have selected 7.5 given the choice, but chose 8 instead of 7.

This just moved above Bicycle Thief, Once Were Warriors, Once Upon a Time in America and Godfather. Seriously, never seen anything like this. Wow. I'm in awe. Wow. This is the best. Historic. Seriously. I don't know this culture very well, but the humanism displayed here, the friendship, the stupidity and the loyalty is so realistic...at least I hope so. The acting is beyond sublime, the story so poignant. Just watch. I have no idea why I haven't heard of this story before. Swampy. Devout. Loyal. Surprising. Surprising. Surprising. Heart warming. Disturbing. Concerning. I've now used too many words to describe what is a perfect piece of art. Just watch this film.

Very good movie. I just wish that it would have been shown more times, and at more theater's then what it was, so more people could have seen it. I thought that it could have been rated PG-13. I am from Louisiana and I think that the area where the film was shot was shown in a very realistic form. There were a few twists to the movie that kept your attention. The ending of the movie will surprise most people who watch it. I think there needs to be more movies like this about people from Louisiana living on the Bayou. This was the best movie of this type that I have seen about Louisiana. Again I wish that I had another opportunity to see this movie again. I can't wait until the DVD come out so I can go and buy it.