Ballast

Ballast

Kino International, $29.95

Although Ballast was one of the most highly praised films of 2008 (it received awards for both direction and cinematography at Sundance in January of that year and appeared on many critics' Top 10 lists by the time last December rolled around), the film never made its way into many movie theatres. Therefore, this new DVD release will be the first opportunity for most people to finally see Ballast, and, even though we're about to close out 2009, the film is likely to become one of the most memorable films you've seen in the last two years. This small independent movie stars nonprofessional actors and seems to gurgle up from the mud of the Mississippi Delta locale in which it is set. Lance Hammer, a former visual-effects designer, makes a confident debut as a writer and director in his first feature film. Assisted by cinematographer Lol Crawley, Hammer creates a palpable sense of location, indelible characters, and a viscerally felt tension between his storytelling's emotional restraint and measured poignancy.

An offscreen death opens the film, which then proceeds to untangle the effects of the dead man Darius' absence on three other people. His twin brother, Lawrence (Michael J. Smith Sr.), who shared the property on which both men lived (he also worked alongside his brother at the little grocery store that their father left them), initially attempts suicide in his despair. Twelve-year-old James (JimMyron Ross), who's on the verge of getting into some big-time trouble, starts coming by Lawrence's place. The boy is on his own most of the time as his single mother, Marlee (Tarra Riggs), works long hours scrubbing urinals to support them both. Slowly, the film reveals the backstories of these people and their relationships (or perhaps more accurately, nonrelationships) with one another.

In other hands, Ballast would turn into a melodramatic Southern Gothic, but Hammer keeps the tone demonstratively cool, as if the damp chill of the Mississippi Delta in winter has suffused the characters' bloodstreams. A "making-of" extra on the DVD reveals some of Hammer's two-month rehearsal process and improvisational work with the actors that led to such realistic and finely tuned performances. Ballast is a quiet wonder that will continue to play in your mind long after the film is over.

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Howards End (Blu-ray) (Criterion, $39.95): This E.M. Forster adaptation represents everything that's good about Merchant Ivory filmmaking. Emma Thompson and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala both won Oscars, and Helena Bonham Carter, Vanessa Redgrave, and Anthony Hopkins are no slouches either.