The first in what will hopefully be a series of short posts on the films of Kathryn Bigelow—one of the most gifted and unique filmmakers of our time.
Kathryn Bigelow is deservedly celebrated as one of the finest directors of kinetic action working in film today. She's mastered what the director herself has referred to as high-impacting filmmaking, but she's also equally adept at quieter, subtler moments, and that impressive aspect of her work isn't discussed often enough.
Kathryn Bigelow is deservedly celebrated as one of the finest directors of kinetic action working in film today. She's mastered what the director herself has referred to as high-impacting filmmaking, but she's also equally adept at quieter, subtler moments, and that impressive aspect of her work isn't discussed often enough.
The final scenes in Blue Steel (1989) and Zero Dark Thirty (2012) are eerily similar, especially in their staggeringly powerful impact. Both moments feature only one woman in the frame, Jamie Lee Curtis in Blue and
Jessica Chastaine in Zero, each utterly broken by the events of the films. Their
relentless perseverance—in taking down a serial killer in Blue, or in taking
down Osama Bin Laden in Zero—is now depleted, missions are accomplished, and
the emotional and psychological toll of it all is finally hitting them, and
hitting them hard.
Bigelow locks the camera in on Curtis and on Chastain, just their faces, keeping the shots mostly still, no dialogue, only closeups of each face and barely perceptible movement from either actress. This allows us to hone our focus in on each woman, to fully absorb the intensity of the both the films we've just watched, and their respective parting shots.
Bigelow locks the camera in on Curtis and on Chastain, just their faces, keeping the shots mostly still, no dialogue, only closeups of each face and barely perceptible movement from either actress. This allows us to hone our focus in on each woman, to fully absorb the intensity of the both the films we've just watched, and their respective parting shots.
These final shots last for uncomfortably long periods of time.
They're the sort of moments Hollywood studios seem to think modern audiences
can't handle anymore. Practically suffocating with stillness, each shot leaves it up to the actresses to show and not tell us—by barely moving their
eyes or not moving them at all—what's going on inside the minds of their
characters. For a while you aren't sure if the Curtis scene is a freeze-frame or not—she barely flinches. Chastaine moves her head slightly, and slowly. She opens her mouth at one point but no words spill out. Instead, tears begin to run down her cheeks. Curtis and Chastaine are more than up to the challenge each scene presents for an actor. If Academy
Awards were handed out for Best Scene, they'd each deserve one for their
work here.
Yet it's Bigelow's masterful direction, her thoughtful and meticulous approach to filmmaking, that maximizes the impact of these parting shots. In each film's final, haunting shot, Bigelow is expressing
the same disturbing questions: sure, these characters have met nearly impossible
goals, but at what price, and where do they go from here?
Interesting read. I always admired Bigelow and her work, but you reminded me of those final scenes, and now I seem to understand more why her work is so important and powerful. Heck, even the final scenes of Point Break left me contemplative for weeks.
ReplyDeleteHave you seen Detroit? I finally saw it about a week ago. Hard-hitting, powerful filmmaking, for sure. She's not losing her edge as she ages, thankfully.
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