Down to the Bone

Dir: Debra Granik

2004

****

I have to say I feel a little sorry for Debra Granik. Her 2004 feature debut should have put her on the map, and it did to some degree, but it will be remembered most for Vera Farmiga’s utterly compelling performance. Her 2010 follow up Winter’s Bone drew huge amounts of praise but again, it was the making of Jennifer Lawrence, rather than herself. I like to think people know her now after the brilliant Leave No Trace but who knows, either way, she’s a phenomenal director who deserves more credit. Visual flare aside, what really makes her a great director is her generosity and the way she allows each actor to flourish. This is why people remember the performances and the actors, rather than her, and its that kind of integrity that the industry needs more of. I’ve never directed a film, so that might sound condescending, but it annoys me because I think artists such as Granik are woefully overlooked, even though they make great film after great film. Down to the Bone tells the tale of Irene Morrison (Vera Farmiga), a working class mother of two boys, who lives in Upstate New York and works as a supermarket cashier. We learn early on that she is keeping a cocaine addiction a secret from her family. Much of the film is fly on the wall family stuff; her eldest son pesters her to buy him a pet snake for his birthday; her husband builds them a second bathroom; the marriage is largely sexless etc. On the night of Halloween, Irene takes her kids trick-or-treating and, at one of the houses they visit, she meets Bob (Hugh Dillon), a nurse, and there is a connection. The next day, Irene takes the kids to a reptile shop to buy a snake, but finds that they don't have enough money for one. While her boys wait in the car, Irene visits her dealer, asking him for another fix, but he refuses since she hasn't been paying for the last couple of weeks. At work, Irene contemplates taking money from the cash register. She then goes back to her dealer with Ben's birthday money given to her from her mother-in-law, but the dealer refuses to take it. We follow her day to day life as she juggles normal life with a clear craving for drugs. At a support meeting about cravings, she meets fellow addict Lucy (Caridad de la Luz), and befriends her. While at the facility, Irene again encounters Bob. Before she leaves, Bob visits with a book that helped him during his quitting phase, and offers her his support. At Irene's first Narcotics Anonymous meeting, a man celebrates one year of abstinence. In the following weeks, Irene finds it difficult to stay clean when her friends use drugs around her. One day at work, she is called into the manager's office. She is told her usual fast work has slowed and she admits her past drug, proclaiming it was the drugs that helped her work so quickly. Her honesty costs her and she is subsequently fired. Lucy suggests they start a cleaning business in order to gain money, to which Irene agrees. On the way to her next NA meeting, Irene offers to give Bob a ride and the pair begin an affair. Bob then takes her to a snake breeder so she can purchase one for Ben. The night the two become intimate, Bob excuses himself to the bathroom. Irene then walks in to find him shooting up. Furious at his hypocrisy, she argues with him, kicks him out but ends up using his drugs and the pair later reconcile. After taking drugs in Bob's car one night, the two are pulled over by the police. They are both arrested and detained when an officer finds a drug burner on the dashboard and a half-ounce of heroin. A lawyer briefs Irene on her best sentencing option: if she pleads guilty, she must commit to 50 individual counselling sessions, 100 group counselling sessions, and 250 NA meetings a year; he informs her that if she screws up, she'll be sentenced to several years incarceration in a state prison. When she arrives home, she admits her affair to Steve, who tells her to move out. Lucy gives her a place to crash, although she's angry with Irene for flaking out on a job. Irene eventually finds herself a house and gets some custody of her kids. After another of Irene's Narcotics meetings, Bob shows up to apologize for getting her caught up in his mess and subsequently avoiding her calls. Irene forgives him and he begins to stay at her house. Meanwhile, Bob is using, but intends to start going to support meetings again. His dealer tries to persuade him to sell some pills, but he refuses. Irene realizes he's been getting high by combining his prescribed methadone and other drugs, and as a result could endanger her kids; she confronts him and silently asks him to leave – the first step, we hope, of her full recovery. It’s a very gritty and realistic drama that shows that there is no glamour to drug addiction and many addicts lead normal lives. Addiction ruins families and relationships and makes bad people of good folk, and this is what Done to the Bone shows perfectly. Stark and powerful, as it should be.

Leave No Trace

Dir: Debra Granik

2018

*****

It’s hard to believe that it has taken eight long years for director Debra Granik to produce another feature film, because after the fantastic Winter’s Bone I thought she’d have the pick of projects. I’m not sure why it has taken so long, she did make the documentary Stray Dog in-between, but I’m glad Leave No Trace is here. I’m also unsurprised that it is as good as it is. Maybe, like many a great director, we should expect quality over quantity from now on. I digress, Leave No Trace is a perfect example of simple but strong ingredients coming together to make the perfect story. The first great decision was to cast Ben Foster in the lead role. As soon as he was on board, he and Granik Granik worked together to remove around 40% of the dialogue to make the film have less exposition and to give it more realism. The second great decision was to cast Thomasin McKenzie as Ben’s daughter. The young actor is superb in what I would suggest is one of the best – if not the best - performance of 2018. The film tells the story of Will, an Iraq War veteran who is suffering from Post Trumatic Stress Disorder. Due to his situation, he lives with his 13-year-old daughter, Tom, in a public park outside Portland, Oregon. They live in almost total isolation, only entering town for occasional food and supplies. Will makes their money by selling his VA-issued painkillers to other veterans. After Tom is accidentally spotted in the woods by a jogger, officers arrest them and place them into social services. They are given food and a house on a tree farm in rural Oregon, on the condition that Will abides by the rules of the home owner and social services. Will begrudgingly begins to work on the settlement packaging pine trees, while Tom begins school and interacts with local kids her age in a club. Will feels oppressed by others' presence and tells Tom they are returning to the woods. She follows him but with reluctance. Will and Tom catch a ride north with a long-haul trucker, who lets them out, at Will's direction, on the edge of trackless woods. They hike in a direction Will expects to lead to an unoccupied cabin, but cold and darkness force them to build a makeshift tent to survive the night. The next day, they find an abandoned cabin and move in. Will leaves to find food but does not return for some time. Tom walks out to look for him, eventually finding him unconscious at the bottom of a hill, presumably from a slip and fall. She gets help from some locals passing by, who take them back to their mobile home community. One of them suggests taking Will to a hospital, but Tom, knowing that going to a hospital could mean going back into social services, refuses. A local woman calls a friend of hers, a former Army medic (and fellow PTSD sufferer), who gets Will on the road to recovery. He also lends Will his own therapy dog to ease his mental adjustment to society. Will and Tom stay in the community for some time while Will’s injuries heal. Tom likes this new home, and hopes that she and her father can stay there permanently. Will, however, continues to feel overwhelmed by social interaction and insists that they leave again. Tom protests this, telling him "the same thing that’s wrong with you isn’t wrong with me". When Will leaves anyway, Tom says that she can not go with him this time, and needs to try to live a normal life. They tearfully hug and part ways. It is both a happy and a sad ending, but also neither. It’s a real slice of life. Along their journey certain big issues are explored but the film is never judgmental and is always subtle. There is comment on the problem of homelessness, particularly within the ex-services. Ex-military are let down in nearly every country, generally by governments, but the film does show the help they receive from charities. PTSD is however, still something that is handled poorly, due to a lack of understanding and a lack of research funding. Will selling his drugs says a lot about the system, it’s a terrible way of making money but a necessity, also suggesting that the drugs don’t work for the reason they are prescribed. I can understand why local authorities can’t have people living in public land but simply moving them on and demolishing their homes isn’t enough. Will and Tom do receive help however and no one is painted as a bad guy, but the system doesn’t really work for anyone. Prevention is the word unspoken. The other word is isolation. The pair chose isolation in many respects but all meanings of the word are explored, particularly in their relationship with each other. The last scene might seem like an abandonment but the point is Tom lets her father go, every relationship is based on a mutual understanding and respect. True love is doing what is best for the other person, no matter how hard and unnatural it might seem. I’m pretty sure the word is never uttered, but this film really is about the love between a father and his daughter. It’s rather sombre at times, never over-dramatised but still full of raw emotion. The direction is also perfect, with great big open shots that are met with intimate moments when needed. It looks stunning throughout. What I liked most was how easy it was to understand the characters, even thought I have nothing in common with them. The story doesn’t preach and is never patronising. It is the only example of an ending that I think I should hate – and I sort of do and then I don’t – but is brilliant. It is the best conclusion for the story, even though every part of your brain is telling you otherwise. I think it’s a stunning piece of work, a future classic for sure.