Country:
USA
Recognizable Faces:
Jennifer Lawrence
John Hawkes
Garret Dillahunt
Directed By:
Debra Granik
Sometimes, you just know when you're watching something special. I started Winter's Bone with a vague idea that I was going to like it, but that haunting accappella southern song started playing, I just knew it was going to be something unique. Debra Granik's adaptation of the father of country noir Daniel Woodrell's novel Winter's Bone lives up to his name. It's a bleak, grim pieces of cinema that is going to make your very bones and your soul feel cold. In the heart of the country, there's no mob, no femme fatales or any elements of conventional noir. There's daily despair and that nagging feeling that something's never been right. Two things that Daniel Woodrell and Debra Granik have nailed perfectly.
Winter's Bone is the story of Ree Dolly (Lawrence). Her old man Jessup is a really bad man, who is renowned in the neighborhood for cooking bad batches of meth. Jessup got himself arrested a few weeks ago and gave his house in guarantee for his bail. Only problem is that he vanished into thin air, leaving behind his catatonic wife and his three children. Fearing the worse for the family she now has the charge of, Ree goes to town and starts asking questions about where her father might be. But it ain't the way it works in the country. You can't just drop by, start asking question and shake the land so many bodies are buried under. Ree gets in serious trouble with the people she grew up around, including her own uncle Teardrop (John Hawkes), who was very close to Jessup.
I have to say it first. Jennifer Lawrence and John Hawkes are absolutely fantastic. They have roles that require a few, but very accurate lines and they nail them with energy. Hawkes on top of it, has a terrific knack for noir. Even his face looks built for the genre. There is something tainted, of a profound melancholy about it. I thought he even gave Christian Bale a run for his money for best support actor. Sure, his role was different, more subtle, relying on presence more than anything, but the ghastly Teardrop is an unforgettable noir character. The actors don't carry the movie to themselves though. Debra Granik shows major Coen brothers influences but she keeps the direction under her control. Winter's Bone's pace is a lot faster and feels more claustrophobic than a Coen's classic like No Country For Old Men (who relies more on a mythic approach). Even at the heart of the woods, in the splendor of a lake at night, you feel the hands around Ree's throat. The impossibility of her situation.
I think Winter's Bone was unjustly treated at the Oscars ceremony. It's a tremendous movie, moved by strong acting and a good understanding of noir mechanics. It's not as bold as Black Swan, but it does a lot of things better than The Social Network and even True Grit, which I liked. It's going to go down as one of the classics of the genre and a movie with a sense of creeping terror that will follow you and earn another viewing once in a while. This kind of achievement happens very rarely, only when a talented filmmaker that understand the inner workings of his art, decides to tackle something dark and difficult like Winter's Bone. Debra Granik might have been helped by Dan Woodrell's exemplary story structure (it feels like he went to storytelling school for a while), but her keen sensibility for noir (and for casting) has turned Woodrell' story into a powerhouse. There is no reason not to watch Winter's Bone. It's a fucking triumph for noir.
SCORE: 90%
