Director: Debra Granik
Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Dale Dickey, John Hawkes
Rating: 8.5 / 10
If I am honest, had this film not been nominated for so many awards I would have paid it scant attention. Winter’s Bone is not a film that shouts out for viewing. Its cast are not particularly well known; and its subject matter is difficult and fraught with misunderstanding. It’s also, frankly, a bit bleak.
But having now seen it, I know that this film should be seen by all, as it captures something real. The beauty of independent movies is that they provide truthful storytelling at its best, in the hope that we are watching.
Winter’s Bone tells a tale of hardship and the corruption of drugs on those living in sparse farming country in Missouri. Not a laugh a minute. The direction starts off as unobtrusive, but as the story builds it becomes tense with anticipation. The camera never passes judgment on the horrors it sees.
Jennifer Lawrence should be applauded as she carries the film. That’s pretty good going for a young unknown. She is in almost every screenshot, making it look easy.
Lawrence plays Ree Dolley, the 17-year-old daughter of a practically mute mother and AWOL father, living in a lonely house in the woods. As she is of age, she must support her little brother and sister as if they were her own. The family is poor even by farming standards. Stretching for miles around her, Ree is met with a bitterly cold and desolate landscape. A pretty good metaphor for her life.
Now for the crunch. It isn’t polite to use the word ‘redneck’, but Ree is seen carrying out all the mocked activities of poor country folk. She deftly chops wood, is handy with a shotgun; and has a strong stomach, catching and skinning squirrels for dinner and chastising her brother for his flinching. Not your average teenager, perhaps. IMDB calls Ree an Ozark mountain girl, so we’ll stick with that.
Ree’s story unfolds at a steady pace, each scene revealing a new twist in her circumstances. Her wayward dad Jessup is due to appear in court on drug charges, and has put up the family house as collateral for his bail. Ree is burdened with the knowledge that if Jessup doesn’t turn up for his hearing, the roof will be torn from over her family’s heads.
Ree determinedly tries to find him. Firstly she visits her dad’s brother Teardrop (played by Independent Spirit Award winner John Hawkes), a wiry terrier of a man with a drug habit and a temper. He’s the first of many to tell her to butt the hell out of her dad’s business. Ree presses on and visits her friends to secure a ride to visit Thump, the unofficial patriarch of the community, whom she believes knows where her dad is, and whether he is dead or alive.
To go on would be revealing more of the plot than necessary, and the joy of this film is that we truly don’t know what is going to happen to Ree next. But you are drawn in.
It is safe to say that the film delivers some of the most frighteningly raw female characterisation of recent years. Ree bravely calls upon those of rank, with no care for what happens when she abuses Ozark’s bonkers rules of society. A sharp look from Merab (played by Dale Dickey), Thump’s wife, scrawny and dangerous as any man; is enough to send most of us away tail between our legs; but flaxen haired Ree is made of sterner stuff.
Ree is held up as a shining star of innocence when compared to the viciousness of the people seen in Winter’s Bone. As the film ups the pace a happy ending is looking unlikely. Scenes of raw confrontation between a young girl fighting for her family’s survival and a village that is closing ranks against them, send shivers down your spine. The film is desolately thrilling in its denouement.
With touches of Deliverance and commentary on the power of gossip to shape events, this is a unique story reflecting normal life for the millions of poor Mid-west Americans. The drugs are almost an aside to the events that they have triggered. No character is shocked to see others snorting things in plain sight.
It isn’t often that you see a film about Ozark mountain folk that doesn’t portray them as redneck idiots with buck teeth living near The Simpsons. Winter’s Bone jolts the viewer back to the harsh reality that such living is ever-present. But it’s a not all unkind. The love for music and bluegrass interludes adds light relief to an otherwise depressing story. And perhaps there are even real signs of redemption.
But it is the script that elevates the film to that of Oscar nominee. Teardrop tells his wife ‘I said no once already with my mouth’ effectively conveying their entire relationship in a single sentence. The character portrayal is so real; it is hard not to believe that half the cast don’t usually live in dirty farmhouses.
If you want to see a movie that will startle you with its well-crafted originality, watch Winter’s Bone.
