Characters are the lifeblood of any movie, and so many mainstream films forget that crucial fact. “Winter’s Bone” was 2010’s top winner at the Sundance film festival, partially because it tells a real world, bitter, brutal and cold blooded narrative in the heart of America, but more likely because of the remarkably strong female performance at its core.
Debra Granik directs the young Jennifer Lawrence as Ree Dolly, a 17-year-old from the Ozarks responsible for her young brother and sister and her medicated and helpless mother. Her father Jessup has jumped bail and is missing after being caught cooking meth, and he has posted their house as his collateral. It quickly becomes Ree’s job to find her dad in the 10 days before his court date if they wish to not be thrown off their land.
Ree’s quest does not take her far, as everywhere a person could possibly disappear to can be found within this small mountain town. The people that refuse to help her or can’t are all neighbors, friends or close and distant relatives.
Whether or not this world Granik has created for Ree to inhabit is believable or not is beside the point. Granik is making a statement about the often over sentimentalized view of these rural communities. When everyone is this close and so much family in breeding has seemingly taken place, tensions run high. Continue reading “Winter’s Bone”