Terry's Reviews
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| Movies | Music | Books |
Book Reviews: |
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The Cinema of Kathryn Bigelow –
Hollywood Transgressor Edited by Deborah Jermyn and Sean Redmond Wallflower Press - 2002 |
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| Essays written by a collection of film theorists
have been gathered together about the work of Kathryn Bigelow. I found each writer’s
interpretation insightful as to why and how Bigelow makes psychological and cinematic
choices in the films she makes. I found the essays on THE LOVELESS, NEAR DARK, POINT BREAK and STRANGE DAYS the most absorbing. There is one chapter that I found a bit too academic and is bogged down with psychoanalytical jargon. The common theme that runs throughout the essays is that Kathryn Bigelow makes films where the sex of the characters becomes androgynous. For example, if you look at short hair styles of many of her female characters; Jenny Wright in NEAR DARK, Jamie Lee Curtis in BLUE STEEL or Lori Petty in POINT BREAK they all are male like fashioned. On the other hand the men have soft feminine traits; Adrian Pasdar’s non-aggressiveness in NEAR DARK, Ron Silver’s submissiveness in BLUE STEEL, Keanu Reeves physical inability in the most intense times in POINT BREAK. It is pointed out that Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett’s relationship in STRANGE DAYS was almost a role reversal of sexes, which is true if you think about it. What’s nice about reading a book like this is that it isn’t normal magazine fluff or promotional hype for a motion picture release. Kathryn Bigelow’s career is given deep reflection and the thoughts in this book illuminate her work from an intellectual perspective. |
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