Gal Young Un

This is a 1979 movie but it's about the lives of some folks in rural Florida in the 20s - 1920s.

The director LOVES closeups - too much for my taste, but he certainly had the right actress for it in Dana Preu.

The story is slow, so do not watch if you want any action. It just isn't there. The only action is watching Matt (the woman) grow and change after she gets married to a rather unsavory character. I kept rooting for her to grow a pair!! (In between closeups.)

The Gal Young Un character was wonderful in her naivety.

The star of the film, for me, was Kitty. That cat was a BRILLIANT actor!! Holy Cow! I'd love to know how they got him to do what he did - which was being an absolutely cool cat. Kitty gave the film an extra star.

Again, this movie is a slow pace, like the south in summer. Watch it to see some interesting characters and to meet Mattie, Trax (BOO!!) and Elly. Oh, don't forget Kitty. You can't forget Kitty.

Enjoy, ya all.

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings was the author of this short story. Victor Nunez specializes in films about Florida people. In this film, which was shot in the piney woods near Gainesville-Ocala, many of the actors are expatriots from the Florida State Theatre troupe, The Hippodrome Theatre, in Gainesville. The historic interiors are authenticated by interpretation specialists of the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Home Historic Site, and the exteriors are also accurate to the place and time of the story. I cannot confirm the automobiles as accurate, but given the care for authenticity in other regards, these are probably accurate as well.

This movie was shown at a small film festival in Tallahassee (home of Victor Nunez) a year or two ago. It won't be easy to find but it's worth it. The gorgeous North Florida backwoods settings faithfully evoke the look of the 20s, when the story is set. The original story, by Marjorie Rawlings, is just unpredictable enough to be a lot of fun. The production quality is adequate -- I found the sound design occasionally jarring -- but is better than a lot of recent 'independent' films....