I just watched The Grapes of Wrath (1940). An incredible piece of cinema, perhaps one of the greatest films of the 20th century. It tells the story of depression-era US and a family pushed to the limit and forced out of their home.

From the first scene it had me captivated with a kind of mise-en-scène and dreamlike artistry that only black and white can deliver.

As a pairing with "Citizen Kane" (1941), the two films tell the story of the New Deal, of the struggle between urban and rural America, of a world of financial collapse and great depression. Perhaps we are beginning to relive aspects of this now almost 100 years later?

There is nuance to the film: the FDR-type figure in the clean white clothes helping the family, red scare, unions, charity, god. The references are perhaps too subtle for modern audiences and I wonder if people back then were more "street smart" in watching this kind of thing.