It’s tempting to associate Debra Granik herself with her female protagonists, and this may or may not be fair. What is fair is to say that Ree Dolly in Winter’s Bone is one of the most badass movie heroes to come along in a long time. It’s the movie that rocketed Jennifer Lawrence to superstardom, and with good reason: it grabbed people’s attention by its frank portrayal of drug addiction and poverty in rural America in an immediate and terrifying way, conveying the enormity of an obstacle it is to escape from a world like that when that’s what you come from and all you know. Her previous feature Down to the Bone dealt with similar themes, and earned her awards from Sundance before she was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture and Screenplay on Winter’s Bone. Of the directors listed here, she may have the most unique and exciting style, maximizing tension and finding stories and heroism in seemingly mundane, everyday occurrences that deserve to be hailed as triumphant.
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Published: Apr 15, 2013 06:27 pm