AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY
2013, The Weinstein Company

I saw the movie August: Osage County (2014), which was nominated for two Academy Awards (Meryl Streep for Best Actress and Julia Roberts for Best Supporting Actress). I wouldn’t be surprised if both actresses win, as I found the performances really terrific.

The movie, which I highly recommend watching, also features a few energy elements, as it takes place in Oklahoma. Windmills for pumping water, a more direct and older use of wind energy than the creation of electricity with turbines, are used as markers to identify the location within the nation’s wind corridor.

In addition to being windy, Oklahoma is a major oil state, and fittingly, oil makes an appearance, too. Early on, a pumpjack diligently works in stubborn isolation, like a lone survivor. Perhaps that pumpjack is a symbol for the movie’s matriarch? Another pumpjack is featured in the town square juxtaposed with a fancy racecar, as if to say that one fuels the other, which represents the truth.

Lastly, the intersection of energy and religion shows up in more movies than I would expect, and this film is no exception. In one scene, the camera zooms in on a cross above a church framed by transmission wires.

Thanks to these energy elements, Chris Cooper, can add another energy movie (The Kingdom, Syriana, Matewan, October Sky, The Muppet Movie, and so forth) to his resume.

That’s all for now—just wanted to share my thoughts on this movie as Oscar season approaches.