Wendy and Lucy (2008)

[randy_byers]

holyoutlaw and I saw this movie at the Varsity last night. As a genre movie fan, I'm not sure what I have to say about this slice-of-life film. Or maybe it's a tip-of-the-iceberg film. It's such a delicate non-story that it's hard to talk about what happens without spoiling it. The basic scenario is that a young woman named Wendy is trying to drive to Alaska with her dog, Lucy, looking for work. She has some problems along the way in Oregon. She resolves one of her problems, but the ending leaves the larger questions unanswered. We also learn very little about her past or background, just little tidbits. It's an open-ended narrative, hardly a story in the traditional sense. Yet it has dramatic tension, even anger, fear and desolation, but it's quiet and understated even when there's a burst of feeling.

One of the reasons I wanted to see this movie, aside from having read several interesting reviews, was the setting in my old home state, Oregon. A lot of how this movie works is on a purely visual level, and what's interesting is that it is showing us things that are often largely invisible. It shows us parts of town that most movies don't even notice: anonymous streets, boarding houses, Walgreen parking lots, mechanic's garage, dog pound, service station restroom. So yeah, these are places I've been to in Springfield, Junction City, Lebanon, Keizer, Woodburn -- and hell, all over the backstreets of Salem, Eugene, and Portland. (I think this was filmed in Portland, because she rides a Tri-Met bus, but it isn't named and at one point it's described as an old mill town.) But it could also be Aurora here in Seattle, or lots of towns anywhere in the country. In fact, because I had read in reviews that Wendy was from Indiana, when the movie opened on a park scene I assumed it was in Indiana. Instead, she was already in Oregon.

This is also very much about an economically vulnerable class in America. Its politics are subtle, almost invisible, but they peep out occasionally, as when Wendy observes that she needs to have an address to get a job, and a security guard replies, "You need an address to get an address. You need a job to get a job. It's all fixed." The movie is about being alone and on your own, a little lost and unsure of yourself. It's about making mistakes and paying a price. It's about the miracle of the kindness of strangers, and the threat of the unknown. It's about the fragility of material things, and the dependence of independence upon them. It's about making hard choices, and the hard limitations on which choices can be made. It's about living in the world, the real world with its infinite specific details: a twenty-year-old Honda Accord, a beater boat of an Oldsmobile, an empty bag of dog chow, a ratty old (childhood?) pillow, a carefully hidden brand new money belt, a serious young man reading a battered copy of Ken Kesey's Sometimes a Great Notion (perfect!). It's about what these details tell us about people, about what they tell us without words.

This makes me want to see Kelly Reichardt's previous film, Old Joy, about two old college friends who hike into an old growth forest in Oregon. She has a good eye for compelling details and compositions, and for conveying information non-verbally. She makes good use of ambient noise and silence, and this sometimes felt like a silent movie. It's interesting that she's made two films in Oregon, because she lives in New York herself. Maybe it's because she's buddies with director Todd Haynes, who lives in Portland. He's one of the executive producers on Wendy and Lucy. A while back I found an interview with Reichardt that I thought was fascinating for her take on her non-career as a film director and the lack of women who can make a living making personal (as opposed to studio) films.

Update: Another good interview with Reichardt despite some remarkable ignorance on the part of the interviewer. Reichardt tells some of the same stories, but she really gets into it with him about "success" and then talks about how mind-numbing it is to tell the same stories over and over to promote your film: "If you could make films and then put them out and not have to reveal anything about yourself, that would be, for me, total dream success. When we were doing our little press junket for Wendy and Lucy, which was completely new to me, I was thinking how can I make it so that I never do this again? Sitting in a hotel room all day long. Talking about yourself over and over again, all day long. Telling the same stories, all day long. It's not my dream. I don't like getting dressed up. I don't like getting my picture taken. I don't want to talk about myself. I like my privacy."

Comments

[kdotdammit.livejournal.com]

This is a GREAT review. Beautifully written. Wendy and Lucy doesn't come to Tucson until March, but when it does, I'll be there the first day. I'm going to rent Old Joy this weekend.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Kim. I'll be really curious to see your take. I think you'll be able to tease out a lot more of the class stuff. Wendy is a fascinating character, and as Luke said she keeps making you ask yourself what you would do in her situation.

[rran-almodovar.livejournal.com]

please write about Old Joy if/when you get a chance...

[alces2.livejournal.com]

Here's a dumb question that will be a spoiler. For me that's the reason for the question but probably not for others. Does she get her dog back? I'd like to see the movie. Interesting and enjoyable review.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Hm. I don't think I said anything about a lost dog!

[alces2.livejournal.com]

True but since I already read imdb and other reviews . . . and since you already saw the movie . . . Strangely enough I frequently get more upset about things happening to animals in films than people. Oh well, never mind.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS


Okay, what I'll say is that nothing bad happens to the dog, and Wendy does find her again. Interestingly, the dog is played by the director's dog and apparently shows up in Old Joy too. The dog does a good job of pretending to be Wendy's dog. She should get an Oscar for Best Supporting Dog.

END SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

[alces2.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[rran-almodovar.livejournal.com]

**disclaimer: friendship with director (and some actors in the earlier film) so I won't say too much**

It is great that Kelly's films are getting around and that smart thoughtful folks and lovers of film are getting the chance to see them. I loved these both but think that Wendy & Lucy may have even more audience potential as it has a bit more of a tale to tell.

The moment where (I think) $11 changes hands made me break into tears the first time I saw it.

Lucy (the dog) is pretty great in both movies, btw.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Yes, that moment of cash exchange was extremely moving on any number of levels. It took me a while to digest the amount, although it's also a little ambiguous. I thought it might be as little as $6 or $7.

How do you know Kelly Reichardt? She sounds like a pretty interesting person from that interview.

[rran-almodovar.livejournal.com]

Friend of friends, we've hung out a bit, she briefly dated another friend. I think I loaned her $11 once! hahaha She's pretty great and interesting for sure.

I've seen and enjoyed her earlier short films (super8), but these "bigger" films show her really busting out!

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

One of the interesting things she said in the interview was that while she's been as poor as Wendy, she's never been as isolated from a social network. She expresses a thoughtful point of view. One of the scariest things about the movie is that Wendy has no one to help her except strangers.