Winter’s Bone
Two films last weekend – the rather too claustrophobic Buried and the rather brilliant Winter’s Bone. Oscar tipped Jennifer Lawrence delivers a staggering performance laden with maturity well beyond her tender age (19). Against the bleak backdrop of the Ozark mountains, Missouri the film draws on an earthy aesthetic of wintered trees and crank weathered faces. On Friday’s Review Show, critic (and pretentious charlatan) Pat Kane described the film as poverty porn – in my mind a rather dismissive portrait on Debra Granik’s re-working of Daniel Woodrell’s novel. The film neither titillates nor glamourises the American underbelly it seeks to scratch, rather opting to lean on it’s use of dramatic effect to beautifully illustrate a part of America often unexposed this side of the pond. Shocking, hostile but ultimately heart-felt I have a feeling this is the sentiment will live on the longest. It also worth mentioning the sublime performance of John Hawkes as the film’s redemption finding bitter-sweet hero, Teardrop – wonderful.
