David O'ConnellMIFF 2010: Winter's Bone/My Joy
July 28th 2010 00:15
Winter’s Bone
Debra Granik’s adaptation of Daniel Woodrell’s country noir mystery, set in the bleak Ozark mountains of Missouri, is one of the best films I’ve seen this year. Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) is a tough-as-nails 17 year old forced to assume a maternal role with her mother’s mental problems rendering her useless to Ree and her two younger siblings. The local sheriff is unable to track down her errant, meth-cooking father but he’s expected in court in a week’s time and has put their house up for collateral. Ree desperately needs to find him, which is easier said than done of course. The local community has a strange sense of loyalty and Ree must fight her way through layers of suspicion and mistrust to get at the truth.
A palpable sense of danger is created through a collective portrait of the locals as a fiercely protective mob who don’t mince their words and rarely shave. Though the mystery seems to be the film's driving force, it’s the depth of characterisation that proves to be its true salvation. Ree has real grit and courage; she's a true heroine and one driven to extremes to protect everything her family stands for - their meager possessions and their dignity. The threat of losing all compels her to act, to probe away in places shrouded by dark histories where danger lurks like a sleeping giant. Ree may be strong-willed but reminders of her vulnerability continue to surface which further cements the film’s credibility.
My Joy
My Joy, on the other hand, proved to be an exercise in tedium. It begins as a road movie that follows a truck delivery driver, Georgy (Viktor Nemets), through dull terrain somewhere in Russia. For a while he aimlessly cuts a path through the countryside where encounters a few random strangers.
Unfortunately, there’s no urgency in the way director Sergei Loznitsa unfurls his long-winded tale; every scene is treated as prosaically as the next, to the point where it all merges into an uncharismatic, senseless mesh of formless details we are neither able to emotionally or intellectually connect with. Apparently it’s a dark parable about the ruthless, blackened heart of modern Russia but regardless there’s very little dramatic merit in what Loznitsa – who comes from a documentary background – has concocted in My Joy.
Georgy is indeed the main character but unfortunately he doesn’t utter a word through the second half of the film due to mental incapacitation. In other words the only thing this film had going for it is effectively subtracted. In its place various strands of other stories are elliptically sewn together; some even appear to be flashbacks. If there was any sense of narrative momentum in Loznitsa’s film its shortcomings might be partially excused, but My Joy proves to be an ironic title in more ways than one.
There are four or five moments of jolting violence but I can only imagine these are strategically placed to periodically jolt the audience and prevent the humiliating sound of snoring from filling the auditorium with a deafening buzz. I believe being forced to study the quest of a prehistoric bug to extract itself from amber is a more attractive prospect that sitting through My Joy ever again.
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Comment by ShaunK
Screen Adventure
Winters Bone sounds great - a 'country noir' huh? sounds fantastic - how soon is 'released soon' please tell David.
Awesome bloody series you're doing here - I'm actually about to dive into a series next week, covering all the films wirtten/directed by John Cassavetes.
also David, have you noticed how Orble is damn quiet these days?
Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic
Look forward to your Cassavetes reviews mate, both Matt and now you have beaten me to it! I've had a boxset of his work for ages and still haven't dipped into it yet!!
You're right about Orble too. Very quiet recently it seems.
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
really enjoying reading this series, great work.
Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic