Winters Bone- Chillingly Amazing

Let me start out this post by telling you all how utterly bone chilling this film was.  As a person who rarely gets attached to films, I find this film to be so exquisite that it has actually made its way into my personal DVD collection, which is a first.  Jennifer Lawrence, known for her stunning performance as Katniss Everdeen, is absolutely phenomenal as 17 year old Ree Dolly.  Ree is a young girl who dropped out of high school to look after her deranged mother and two younger siblings after her father goes missing for a year.  She soon finds out that her father had put the families home up for bond and if he did not show up for his court date, her family will be evicted from their home.  Ree goes to great lengths searching for her father and encounters some very difficult obstacles along the way.  If you haven't watched it, I won't spoil it for you. But be forewarned there will be an overwhelming amount of tears shed.

On to a more important topic.

This film was written, directed, and produced by women, which is something that does not happen often in the independent sector.  Women in the independent sector find it more difficult (in relation to white male film makers) to find funding, and get distribution. Women are often given little choice but to work in the independent sector, this is usually due to the fact that they tend to go beyond what is generally permitted in the mainstream, or because it is the only place that options are available for them.  In the film industry, women are seen as risky when it comes to writing, directing, and even playing the leading role in films.  Some stereotypical opinions of these films refers to the films as "chick flicks", identifying women as the projected audience, whereas a if the film was written, directed, and lead by a male there would be a more vast projected audience.  Another belief held about women film makers is that most of their subject matter revolves around feminist ideals, which is not always the case.  Which brings me to my next topic.

Is Winter's Bone a feminist film?

To be completely frank, I do not believe that Winter's bone is rooted in feminism, I do believe that there may have been some culturally constructed ideas of feminism in this film, such as having a female lead, and focusing in on the well-being of the children, and the emotions behind the film, but not enough to be considered deeply rooted in feminism.  In fact, I believe that those are the reasons that this film is as gripping as it is.  I think that if this film wasn't as gritty and violent it may have been considered a feminist film. 

Overall,

All politics aside, I highly suggest watching this film simply because it is amazing. The acting is phenomenal and the grit of this movie really gives this film a sense of realism, that is absent in most mainstream films.

Do the Right Thing- Fight the Power

In last week’s class we watched the film Do the Right Thing.  This was one heck of a film, I have never watched a Spike Lee film before and have always heard people talking about how amazing his films are, and now I can officially say that I have given into the hype.  The multi-strand narrative format really made the film seem more dimensional.  I liked how Spike used Mookie to tell connect the characters in the film and to be the one that breaks the race barrier by working with Sal and his son’s.  One thing that I thought was interesting was that Spike Lee wrote, acted, directed, and produced this film, I wonder what filming was like? Anyways, I like the fact that this film addressed the political topic of racism and drew attention to tensions from both viewpoints.  Another thing that I found interesting was that this film was made around the time that the Rodney King Riots were going on, and really shone a light on racism and police brutality.  Many people say you shouldn't mix art and politics but I think that if it is done in a way that evokes discussion then it is absolutely necessary.  I feel that film is an especially great way to bring attention to a cause especially when the ones who are watching the film are unaware of the cause and or far from the cause.  A few months ago I watched an independent film called 5 broken cameras which was filmed by one man who recorded the daily occurrences in his town, and it really drew a light on the situation in Gaza that I was unaware of.  This film piqued my interest and I did more research on it independently.  For this reason, I think that film is a great outlet for politics to either inform or grow interest in a topic.