Thou Wast Mild And Lovely (2014) - Josephine Decker

 Josephine Decker's Thou Wast Mild And Lovely is a simple, classic story exploring sexuality, possession, and identity told in an impressionistic way.  The film centers on a rural farm where Jeremiah lives with his daughter, Sarah.  Needing help on the farm, they hire Akin, a married man, who shares a brooding sexual tension with Sarah.  As Akin slowly becomes a slave to his deep-rooted carnal desires, his new found relationship with Sarah rubs Jeremiah the wrong way. Thou Wast Mild and Lovely is sensuous thriller loaded with experimental sensibilities.  Decker's style and aesthetic is reminiscent of Bergman's work in the themes it explores and Lynch's work in terms of style, but this film doesn't manage to reach those heights, not being nearly as perceptive or profound.  For me,  Thou Wast Mild And Lovely is more a subversive nightmare, a fever dream that uses style to create its poetic and disturbing portrait.  Decker's ideals are not particularly profound or intellectual, with the film feeling more like a study in creating an uneasy mood with experimental flourishes.  Taking advantage of the rural, farm setting, Decker juxtaposes the animals living situations with those of Sarah, showing how she is just as imprisoned as their livestock, a possession of Jermiahs.  The strongest aspect of the film is without question Decker's visual aesthetic, using unusual compositions that effectively create a sense of unease in the viewer.  Josephine Decker's Thou Wast Mild and Lovely is a film worth seeing from an aesthetic perspective alone and while there is no doubt that Decker brings a unique visual eye, the film has its narrative and theamtic shortcomings.  

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