Winter's
Bone (15)
Directed by Debra Granik
Adapted screenplay written by Debra Granik and Anne Rosselini
Screening at from 17th September
2010
Reviewed by
Debra Granik's adaptation of Daniel Woodrell's novel, Winter's Bone,
is an inspirationally effective film that journeys into the cryptic Ozark
Mountain communities of Missouri.
The film follows Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence), a seventeen year old
girl struggling to raise her siblings and care for her mentally ill mother
in the obscure Ozark wilderness. The absence of Ree's fugitive drug making
father spirals from mere neglect to direct threat, as Ree learns he has
signed the family stead away as his bail bond. If he fails to show for
his trial in court, a bounty hunter tells her, their home will be taken
as payment. Thus Ree's quest to find her father begins. Faced with the
ominous task of confronting her father's criminal associates, Ree summons
her inherent maternal courage and steps blindly into a world of violence,
repression and hopelessness.
The film boldly depicts the poverty and backwardness still to be found
in parts of rural America. What Granik manages to extract from this rarely
glimpsed – but often dismissed – culture, is the lawlessness
and social abandonment certain communities face. With local criminal overseers
seeking to prolong the status quo of corruption and deprivation, those
born in to the bitter cycle (particularly women) face a life of servitude
and subordination.
Granik masterfully portrays an atmosphere of deadening misogyny, to which
almost all of the women in the film have succumbed, but through which
Ree negotiates with naïve stubbornness. Interestingly, it is perhaps
due to her father's continued absence that Ree has developed her sense
of self and morality (we see her teaching her siblings moral codes throughout
the film) and has thus been spared from a life of servitude (at least
to a male oppressor). Although the film unflinchingly portrays the harrowing
ordeals Ree undergoes, her heroism at least means that she avoids the
prescribed existence of her peers. As an equivalent example, Ree's friend
Gail is locked in a unloving relationship and is raising a child virtually
alone. Contrastingly, Ree's life with her family is permeated with moments
of utter affection – and this is a status quo she will not see altered.
Along side Jennifer Lawrence – whose performance is nothing short
of brilliant – a strong cast of knowns and unknowns (Deadwood's
Garret Dillahunt and John Hawkes both feature) help create a believable
and absorbing backdrop of characters. Granik's naturalistic directorial
approach compliments the stark winter wilderness that features in the
film. She builds a rhythmic relationship between character and camera
that is both subtle and aesthetically alluring – literally unravelling
the plot in images. Granik maintains an intimate affinity with the subjects
she films, and this is hugely rewarding for the viewer - films are rarely
so adoringly created.
Winter's Bone is a one of a kind film that embodies almost all the elements
so often forgotten in modern film making and story telling. Devastatingly
overlooked, it is a film that deserves a much greater audience.
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