Her siblings are starving; her father has disappeared. There’s no hay left for the horses, and no car to drive anywhere. Debra Granik’s film Winter’s Bone (2010) gracefully captures these bleak hues in the rural Ozarks as teenager Ree fights to keep her family alive. Grays and blues give the landscape a palpable chill appropriate to the film’s look at the horrors of crystal meth. Spare, unflinching, and at times gruesome, Winter’s Bone is a vivid snapshot of a broken community, and feels as smothering as a flannel shirt. Inspired performances by Jennifer Lawrence and John Hawke anchor the drama. Even overlong scenic shots can’t detract from their intensity.
For most of its duration, Winter’s Bone is downright depressing. Seventeen-year-old Ree has cared for her siblings Ashlee and Sonny ever since their mother went crazy and their father, a meth dealer, disappeared. Their problems only intensify when the sheriff notifies them that their father has placed their house up for bail bond: if he doesn’t show up to his court date, then they lose the house. To keep the house and the forest that borders it, Ree must weave through the network of lies and drug alliances that bind her community, in the process enduring uncertainty, cold, and betrayal. But the film carries a message of hope, too. Ree is a strong character, refusing to accept defeat, and her love for her family spurs her on. Winter’s Bone has certainly made waves in the film community, winning top honors at the Sundance Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival.
Relative newcomer Jennifer Lawrence portrays Ree with both heart and detached coolness. The camera rests on every suspicious glance that comes from her eyes, but also manages to capture the wistfulness that surfaces when she walks through the halls of her old school.
As a counter to Ree, John Hawke as her uncle Teardrop manages to make his character both distasteful and vaguely sympathetic. He’s a crazy-eyed, unpredictable drug user, but like many of the townspeople, is difficult to classify as good or bad.
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