The film is sort of "the Village" meets "Wild, Wild West". Ghost of the Ozarks is an historical fantasy with a horror-movie feel that tells the story of James 'Doc' McCune (Thomas Hobson) who becomes the latest resident of Norfork, a fortress city in the post-Civil War Ozarks, built around a mysterious mine and surrounded by a red fog and the ghost creatures that surround it.
With themes of oppression, racial harmony, greed, fear and liberation, the story establishes a large cast of interesting characters. Hobson creates a likeable portrayal of James McCune and the tension that develops between him and his uncle Mathhew McCune (Phil Morris) is excellent if not fully developed. James soon meets Annie, the town's hunter, who breaks stereotypes and is a strong female character that is a dominant contrast to her stron, silent brother William (Joseph Ruud). Tim Blake Nelson shines as the blind barkeep, Torb, as does Angela Bettis as his "darling" Lucille. The devotion between these two characters and their mysterious back-story is perfectly played with minimal dialogue and leaves us wanting more. The film's first act lingers as it establishes these rich characters including Douglas (David Arquette), the town's haberdasher, tailor and photographer who prior to James arrival was the newest resident in town and who seems very eager to sell his wares.
Some of the best scenes in the film come in the establishment of Torb and Lucille's relationship, parlor tricks and even a song sequence that can't help but remind one of Tim Blake Nelson's outstanding performance in O Brother Where Art Thou.
The costuming seemed appropriate to the period but the miner's cloaks were confusing and made one think there might be cultish overtones coming in the plot but then the cloaks are never really explained and seemed to have been merely functional. The sets are weak in places like (the mine) and this no doubt reflects the budget. And the purpose of futuristic elements (for the period) like the doctor's gadgets, gas masks and gas lighting in a small rural town are never made clear in the service of the plot but do provide mystery and give the film a unique feel.
The special effects were simple but effective, especially the red fog and the mysterious horned and hoofed ghosts.
SPOILER ALERT. Plot details. McCune at first enters a town that seems somewhat utopian. Friendly people eager to greet him, who accept his as a black doctor, and who live in a town where his uncle is the town's black mayor. But the wheels of the utopic view begin to fall off as he discovers more about the behavior of mysterious ghosts that keep the townspeople within the gates out of fear. Only Annie and William dare to live outside the gates.
McCune needs Annie to help him as his nurse as we learn that his left arm was badly damaged in the Civil War.
McCune grows increasingly distant from his uncle as he discovers that he is controlling people in the town and leveraging the fear of the ghosts to keep people under control and presumably prevent them from learning of his secret diamond mining activities. Punishment by the ghosts of the townspeople who dare to speak out are swift and brutal. When Annie is attacked, Torb and Lucille, who have apparently reluctantly kept the secret up to this point do battle with the mayor's henchman and eventually Torb is killed as Annie's held in the mayor's grip. Douglas shows McCune a photograph that proves that the mayor, his uncle, stood by as Annie was attacked. Annie and her brother return to their house and while her brother is out, the house mysteriously burns down. McCune angrily confronts his uncle and insists that the diamond mine should be revealed to the townspeople.
The next day this is all leads to a large town gathering orchestrated by the mayor. He turns the table on his nephew McCune and reveals that he has a bad arm and is a fraud as a doctor. But McCune in turn accuses his uncle of orchestrating the ghosts and running a diamond mine. Thanks to Annie's surprising return (she wasn't killed in the fire after all), the town is saved and the townspeople escape outside the gates.
CONCLUSION. What does it all mean?
The metaphors in the film are rich and not obvious leaving the viewer to ponder the deeper social themes of greed, oppression, racial harmony, fear, control and freedom. I think it may be dangerous to draw to close a connection to current events as the film was likely written when the national debate was attenuated differently.
The mayor, motivated by greed and a desire for respect, controls and oppresses an entire town through fear and a fog that puts people to sleep. The doctor, motivated by a desire to heal and be freed by the truth leads people to break outside the walls of their captivity. If we try to make the mayor Obama or Trump or the doctor Democrat or Republican we may miss a larger point that anyone can fear and fog to control a society to act against its own interests in the name of being protected. Only as we step outside the boundaries of nationalism, tribalism, and partisanship can we find true liberation and the ability to live lives of freedom, well-being and truth.
With themes of oppression, racial harmony, greed, fear and liberation, the story establishes a large cast of interesting characters. Hobson creates a likeable portrayal of James McCune and the tension that develops between him and his uncle Mathhew McCune (Phil Morris) is excellent if not fully developed. James soon meets Annie, the town's hunter, who breaks stereotypes and is a strong female character that is a dominant contrast to her stron, silent brother William (Joseph Ruud). Tim Blake Nelson shines as the blind barkeep, Torb, as does Angela Bettis as his "darling" Lucille. The devotion between these two characters and their mysterious back-story is perfectly played with minimal dialogue and leaves us wanting more. The film's first act lingers as it establishes these rich characters including Douglas (David Arquette), the town's haberdasher, tailor and photographer who prior to James arrival was the newest resident in town and who seems very eager to sell his wares.
Some of the best scenes in the film come in the establishment of Torb and Lucille's relationship, parlor tricks and even a song sequence that can't help but remind one of Tim Blake Nelson's outstanding performance in O Brother Where Art Thou.
The costuming seemed appropriate to the period but the miner's cloaks were confusing and made one think there might be cultish overtones coming in the plot but then the cloaks are never really explained and seemed to have been merely functional. The sets are weak in places like (the mine) and this no doubt reflects the budget. And the purpose of futuristic elements (for the period) like the doctor's gadgets, gas masks and gas lighting in a small rural town are never made clear in the service of the plot but do provide mystery and give the film a unique feel.
The special effects were simple but effective, especially the red fog and the mysterious horned and hoofed ghosts.
SPOILER ALERT. Plot details. McCune at first enters a town that seems somewhat utopian. Friendly people eager to greet him, who accept his as a black doctor, and who live in a town where his uncle is the town's black mayor. But the wheels of the utopic view begin to fall off as he discovers more about the behavior of mysterious ghosts that keep the townspeople within the gates out of fear. Only Annie and William dare to live outside the gates.
McCune needs Annie to help him as his nurse as we learn that his left arm was badly damaged in the Civil War.
McCune grows increasingly distant from his uncle as he discovers that he is controlling people in the town and leveraging the fear of the ghosts to keep people under control and presumably prevent them from learning of his secret diamond mining activities. Punishment by the ghosts of the townspeople who dare to speak out are swift and brutal. When Annie is attacked, Torb and Lucille, who have apparently reluctantly kept the secret up to this point do battle with the mayor's henchman and eventually Torb is killed as Annie's held in the mayor's grip. Douglas shows McCune a photograph that proves that the mayor, his uncle, stood by as Annie was attacked. Annie and her brother return to their house and while her brother is out, the house mysteriously burns down. McCune angrily confronts his uncle and insists that the diamond mine should be revealed to the townspeople.
The next day this is all leads to a large town gathering orchestrated by the mayor. He turns the table on his nephew McCune and reveals that he has a bad arm and is a fraud as a doctor. But McCune in turn accuses his uncle of orchestrating the ghosts and running a diamond mine. Thanks to Annie's surprising return (she wasn't killed in the fire after all), the town is saved and the townspeople escape outside the gates.
CONCLUSION. What does it all mean?
The metaphors in the film are rich and not obvious leaving the viewer to ponder the deeper social themes of greed, oppression, racial harmony, fear, control and freedom. I think it may be dangerous to draw to close a connection to current events as the film was likely written when the national debate was attenuated differently.
The mayor, motivated by greed and a desire for respect, controls and oppresses an entire town through fear and a fog that puts people to sleep. The doctor, motivated by a desire to heal and be freed by the truth leads people to break outside the walls of their captivity. If we try to make the mayor Obama or Trump or the doctor Democrat or Republican we may miss a larger point that anyone can fear and fog to control a society to act against its own interests in the name of being protected. Only as we step outside the boundaries of nationalism, tribalism, and partisanship can we find true liberation and the ability to live lives of freedom, well-being and truth.