Post by klep on Mar 20, 2017 6:32:02 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 3/20: Winter's Bone
Appalachia is poor. Very poor. It's a poor that difficult to understand if you haven't seen it for yourself. Because it's not just a matter of, say, moving back in with your folks because you can't find a job. In Appalachia there's no one you can move back in with - everyone is already as poor as you. This is the kind of poverty where you're already beyond living hand-to-mouth, you're making the kind of hard choices that lead to going hungry for days or a week at a time.
It's a kind of poor we don't really see honestly portrayed in media very often. It's unglamorous, and even when Hollywood tries to show it it frequently comes across condescending or patronizing. It's an outsider's view looking in, without really understanding. But Debra Granik avoids that pitfall in this film, in which the camera is more among these people than looking in or down at them. There is no shock, no pity in how the camera captures the Dolly's lives, just a matter-of-factness that matches Ree's (Jennifer Lawrence) own pragmatism. Where a lesser film would gawk at the skinning and cleaning of a squirrel, this one recognizes it as a normal part of life for a community where varmint hunting is one of the cheaper, more reliable sources of food.
There's also no patronizing wonder at the fabled pride of these folk, as Granik doesn't shy from the true costs of such poverty. "Never ask for what oughtta be given" Ree says, but she has no hesitance to accept help that is offered, and Granik finds moments that show Ree wishing for things she can't have.
Granik also doesn't shy from the drug epidemic that curses Appalachian communities like this one. Drugs flow freely among Ree's clan, known to all to be traffickers in meth. At various points Ree is offered pot, cocaine, and opiates the way you might offer someone a stick of gum or an aspirin. Indeed, Ree's own predicament is a result of her father's involvement in the drug trade. It's modern-day moonshining, with all the risk that implies. There doesn't seem to even be much money in it, a combination perhaps of the inherent poverty of the community and the way meth addicts tend to burn out so quickly.
Ree's poverty is one that is difficult to escape. She probably won't, in fact; her best shot is the military but the need to raise her siblings precludes that option. But Granik gives her what she can and still be honest: her home, some peace, and enough money to keep going, at least for a while.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 3/27: Primer
DEBUT WEEK
Sometimes all making a great film takes is a great idea, $7,000 and sheer determination. That's all Shane Carruth had when he crafted his brilliant debut film, Primer about a couple of engineers who accidentally invent a time machine. Already in the Movie of the Week annals for his superlative sophomore effort Upstream Color, next week we'll talk about the film that first put Carruth on the map and inspired a million late night dorm room conversations. Primer is available on Netflix Instant and for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 3/21: King Kong (1933)
This week's podcast takes a look at how far the great ape has come since its inception in 1933. We'll be taking a look at the original King Kong on Wednesday. It is available for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
Appalachia is poor. Very poor. It's a poor that difficult to understand if you haven't seen it for yourself. Because it's not just a matter of, say, moving back in with your folks because you can't find a job. In Appalachia there's no one you can move back in with - everyone is already as poor as you. This is the kind of poverty where you're already beyond living hand-to-mouth, you're making the kind of hard choices that lead to going hungry for days or a week at a time.
It's a kind of poor we don't really see honestly portrayed in media very often. It's unglamorous, and even when Hollywood tries to show it it frequently comes across condescending or patronizing. It's an outsider's view looking in, without really understanding. But Debra Granik avoids that pitfall in this film, in which the camera is more among these people than looking in or down at them. There is no shock, no pity in how the camera captures the Dolly's lives, just a matter-of-factness that matches Ree's (Jennifer Lawrence) own pragmatism. Where a lesser film would gawk at the skinning and cleaning of a squirrel, this one recognizes it as a normal part of life for a community where varmint hunting is one of the cheaper, more reliable sources of food.
There's also no patronizing wonder at the fabled pride of these folk, as Granik doesn't shy from the true costs of such poverty. "Never ask for what oughtta be given" Ree says, but she has no hesitance to accept help that is offered, and Granik finds moments that show Ree wishing for things she can't have.
Granik also doesn't shy from the drug epidemic that curses Appalachian communities like this one. Drugs flow freely among Ree's clan, known to all to be traffickers in meth. At various points Ree is offered pot, cocaine, and opiates the way you might offer someone a stick of gum or an aspirin. Indeed, Ree's own predicament is a result of her father's involvement in the drug trade. It's modern-day moonshining, with all the risk that implies. There doesn't seem to even be much money in it, a combination perhaps of the inherent poverty of the community and the way meth addicts tend to burn out so quickly.
Ree's poverty is one that is difficult to escape. She probably won't, in fact; her best shot is the military but the need to raise her siblings precludes that option. But Granik gives her what she can and still be honest: her home, some peace, and enough money to keep going, at least for a while.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 3/27: Primer
DEBUT WEEK
Sometimes all making a great film takes is a great idea, $7,000 and sheer determination. That's all Shane Carruth had when he crafted his brilliant debut film, Primer about a couple of engineers who accidentally invent a time machine. Already in the Movie of the Week annals for his superlative sophomore effort Upstream Color, next week we'll talk about the film that first put Carruth on the map and inspired a million late night dorm room conversations. Primer is available on Netflix Instant and for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 3/21: King Kong (1933)
This week's podcast takes a look at how far the great ape has come since its inception in 1933. We'll be taking a look at the original King Kong on Wednesday. It is available for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.