Grapes of Wrath

Sunday, April 19, 2009
Nomad Theater (1410 Quince Ave, Boulder, CO 80304) [map]

Oklahoma in the Thirties was a dustbowl from which many dispossessed farmers migrated westward. After terrible trials en route many became little more than slave labor. Among the throng are the Joads, a poor Midwest family forced off of their land. They travel to California, suffering the misfortunes of the homeless in the Great Depression. The plight of the Joad family is universalized as a microcosm of the thousands of other tenant farmers during the country's time of crisis, who suffered from oppression imposed by the bank and big mechanized farm interests.

It is an absorbing, tense melodrama, starkly realistic, and loaded with social and political fireworks.

— Variety 100, John C. Flinn Sr.

What really solidifies the greatness of The Grapes of Wrath is Ford's ability to blend the personal and political without causing damage to either characters or themes.

— Apollo Guide, Dan Jardine

In a stirring film that stands as a microcosm of the depression experience of millions, Ford gives poverty a human face in a way that was rare then and even rarer in the decades to follow as Hollywood films with a sense of class consciousness dwindled like a species nearing extinction.

— Rotten Tomatoes

The discussion following the film will be facilitated by Todd Siegel, an initiator of the grassroots organization Transition Boulder, dedicated to building community resilience and self-reliance.