MYST #6: Winter's Bone

OK, if this film isn't bleak, I don't know what is; and I mean that in the best way possible.
My parents adore Jennifer Lawrence (I find her a bit overrated), so I found myself situated on the floor of the family TV room with a bowl of freshly-popped stove-top popcorn this past weekend prepared to watch one of her movies of their choosing. I was totally surprised to discover that "Winter's Bone" is not a glamorous, grand affair like "The Hunger Games", but is in fact rewarding, nuanced, genuine, and even hopeful. Written and directed by Debra Granik, "Winter's Bone" holds a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and was nominated for Best Picture at the 2011 Academy Awards. The budget of the film was two million dollars and, true to independent form, opened in only a handful of screens, four to be exact. Today, the film has grossed nearly fourteen million dollars.

The film is set in the American Ozarks and details the life of the dirt-poor Dolly family. Seventeen-year-old Ree (Jennifer Lawrence) takes care of her mentally ill mother and younger siblings while her meth-manufacturing father, Jessup, is absent. Ree learns that her father, scheduled for a court appearance, has completely disappeared, skipping his bail as a result, and put up their house and property as collateral for his bond. To protect her family from eviction, Ree must locate Jessup, but the members of the community that she turns to for help are unwilling to grant any information and seem to adhere to a strict code of silence. Ree's uncle, Teardrop, suggests that her father is most likely dead, but with no evidence, no clear truth is known and Ree refuses to capitulate.

An element of the film that deeply struck me was the establishment of the horrid economic conditions of the Ozark region. The movie was shot on location and focuses on a society which I had no idea even existed. America is rarely portrayed as anything but a land of plenty, even if a movie includes hints of poverty, but "Winter's Bone" incorporated no suggestions of wealth among any of its characters. Even the meth dealers don't have money, and they produce the drugs in dilapidated shacks that could potentially combust at any moment due to lack of proper equipment. The Missouri landscape appears catastrophic with garbage, made up of dated appliances and commodities that people could perhaps once afford, building up around the homes of the community members. There are no simplistic stereotypes or cliches; the problems faced by Ree are realistic, such as having to care for children and a sick mother with no financial ability, proper education, or parental guidance to help her claw her way out of the situation. Where the family's food and water will come from is a constant concern, and Ree teaches her six-year-old sister how to hunt squirrels. This is actually common in the real Ozarks. In the 2010s, this seems ridiculous, and the fact that such a lifestyle is normal in a region not so far away from where I live in Illinois is jarring. It makes me feel slightly embarrassed for the trivialities I worry over while these people deal with much more brutal conditions as simply a fact of life.

The film culminates in a disgusting scene that made my skin crawl. Ree is taken out onto a frozen

lake by the women of her community to the site where her father's body was disposed of. Leaning over into the marshy water, Ree grasps her decaying father's arms and saws them off to bring to the town sherif, prove Jessup's murder, and save her family from having everything taken from them. The climactic scene begs the question of what would audience members be willing to do for their families? Would they be able to endure such fear as to take desperate action and handle the body of a deceased loved one? The idea of the emotional torment is enough to make me want to turn away from the screen and cover my eyes.

I give this film 4/4 stars!