The Island of St. Matthews

The Island of St. Matthews is an evocative docu-drama film directed by Kevin Jerome Everson that dates back to 2013. The film is a unique exploration of cultural history, personal memory, and the relentless power of nature. The runtime of the film is approximately 70 minutes and it honors the charm of the southern American town of Westpoint, Mississippi, and its generations of inhabitants by creating a deep, contemplative record of loss and resilience.

The film showcases a collection of vignettes, interviews, and storytelling portrayed by three principal actors - Raymond Griggs, Rosalee Harris, and Charlie Smith. Their performances add an element of deeply grounded and personal connection to the film. Their roles do not follow a traditional scripted path but instead share fragments of history painstakingly stitched together to draw the viewers into the heart of the decades-long narrative that is just as significant to the personal history as it is to global ecology and climate change conversations.

The Island of St. Matthews depicts the devastating floods that have regularly plagued the residents through the eyes of the townsfolk, who speak about their experiences with the floods. The film's narrative revolves mainly around the Great Flood of 1973. This event caused the Tombigbee River to significantly overflow its banks, devastating the community and transforming the landscape. This catastrophe led to tremendous losses for the townsfolk who saw their houses, belongings, and an irreplaceable piece of their history submerged under the raging waters.

The director uses the metaphor of the church bells, which were lost to the flood, to illustrate the resonance of the past and the fleeting nature of material things. The search for these submerged bells forms a significant part of the film. The bells from the local St. Matthews church, swept away by the flood, are a haunting symbol of the film, deeply ingrained in local lore and representing a deep sense of loss felt by the community.

In the documentary, the allegory persists of life being an unending cycle of birth, survival, death, and rebirth. Here, nature is the ultimate protagonist. The river, represented as a destructive as well as nurturing entity, is a prevalent character in and of itself, associated with both life and death, creation and destruction. The filmmaker's perspective on nature is non-judgmental, perceiving it as a powerful entity that fosters and takes life indiscriminately.

The script does not follow chronological boundaries. Instead, it delves into non-linear storytelling that seamlessly blends the present with the past and the real with the abstract. The film makes use of dramatic reconstructions and archival footages alongside interviews with the local populace to hark back to the devastation caused by the flood. These methods draw a vivid and poignant image of the impact the event has had on the community, the landscape, and the individual memories of the townsfolk.

The cinematography showcases the power of simplicity and the effectiveness of lingering camera techniques. The lens captures the quiet disquiet of the abandoned land and the relentless surge of the river through long, uncut shots and close-ups. Experiencing the still, rainless landscape, the viewer is invited to reflect on the invisible, impending threat that such an environment can conceal.

The Island of St. Matthews thus is a compelling blend of oral history, local culture, and environmental commentary, masterfully sewn together by Everson. It encourages viewers to contemplate the forces that shape us - those of nature and our own personal histories – while prompting a consideration for how we imprint upon the landscapes we inhabit and the remnants we leave behind.

Essentially, The Island of St. Matthews is not just a film, but an empathic chronicle of history, memory, and love for a land and its people. It is testimony to the beauty of simple storytelling and the power of cinema to give life to fading memories and almost-forgotten tales. This cinematic masterpiece succeeds in capturing the viewers' hearts, remaining with them long after the credits have rolled.