Women's Liberation: The Directors of 2009

In 1994, when Jane Campion was Oscar-nominated for directing her masterpiece “The Piano” (she won for Best Original Screenplay), she became only the second woman in Academy history to compete for top honors among the male-dominated ranks of Hollywood directors. One more name has since been added to that short list (Sofia Coppola, nominated for directing “Lost in Translation”), but 2009 looks to be a game-changer for women directors and the Boys Club precedent of annual awards contention.

Campion is again poised for the big leagues, coming on strong with approaching release of “Bright Star” (Bob Berney’s yet-unnamed independent studio; 09/18) after a euphoric show of support in Cannes and a six-year absence from filmmaking since the disappointing “In the Cut” bewildered a tiny audience and promptly faded into memory. The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw considers “Bright Star” to perhaps be Campion’s finest film to date, noting the “unfashionable, unapologetic reverence for romance and romantic love” that pervades Campion’s John Keats biopic into every inch of its being.

Magnificently mounted with the lavish costume design and graceful romantic flourishes so historically beloved by the Academy’s old-guard, “Bright Star” should live up to its name as a high point for Campion’s career. Ben Whishaw (an understated asset in “Perfume” and “I’m Not There”) plays Keats, whose love for Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish, receiving the film’s best notices for acting) inspired much of the romantic poetry for which he became famous. The excellent American character actor Paul Schneider affects a Scottish accent to play Keats’ friend turned rival, both for Fanny’s affections and poetic accomplishment. Beautifully captured by cinematographer Greig Fraser, “Bright Star” remains visually relevant in the mind of audiences well-beyond the film’s initial impression, allowing affection for Campion’s latest to thrive and blossom with the promise of a fruitful future.

A world apart from Campion’s world of tartan waistcoats and lavender meadows, “The Hurt Locker” has become one of 2009’s preeminent classics by delivering visceral thrills and heart-stopping tension as it depicts the daily challenges faced by a team of bomb diffusing experts on duty in modern, war-ravaged Iraq. Like Campion, director Kathryn Bigelow has taken her time to bounce back from the distant disappointment of her last directing effort (2002’s “K-19: The Widowmaker,” the $100 million summer tentpole starring Harrison Ford, recouped less than half its budget and sank quickly into oblivion), and to say the wait has been worth it would be a gross understatement.

“The Hurt Locker” is doing gangbusters in limited release, with Summit expanding nationwide this summer in a measured approach that capitalizes on word-of-mouth from unanimous critical support and blown-away moviegoers. Bigelow is the woman behind testosterone-powered action movies like “Point Break” and “Blue Steel,” and her reputation among cult classic enthusiasts has gradually expanded to encompass a wider breadth of devotees. Its hard to imagine that the newly doubled slots for Best Picture won’t include a place for “The Hurt Locker,” given its universal acclaim, and Bigelow is widely seen as an auteur whose recognition is due.

Lone Scherfig, the Danish director of “Italian for Beginners,” has “An Education” in the running for Sony Pictures Classics (10/13), the same studio pushing French import “Coco Before Chanel” (09/25) into the fall fray. Both pictures have the pedigree to hit the ground running (scroll down for a fuller look at “An Education”), with director Anne Fontaine’s biopic about the legendary designer featuring Audrey Tautou (a household name to stateside fans of “Amélie”) in the lead and boasting the kind of historical illumination that is tailored to suit Academy tastes.

More promising still is Mira Nair’s biopic “Amelia” (Fox Searchlight; 10/23), which stars Hilary Swank as the fabled first female pilot to attempt a flight around the world, with Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor and Virginia Madsen along for the ride. The first trailer touched down a couple of weeks back, and with it the film’s potential shot sky high. A sweeping epic along the lines of “Out of Africa” and “The English Patient” was not what I had imagined, but it seems to be exactly the kind of picture Nair has delivered.

Already an Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film some 20 years ago for “Mississippi Masala,” Nair hit it big on the indie circuit with “Monsoon Wedding” before her disappointing attempt at a period piece, the ill-advised Reese Witherspoon vehicle “Vanity Fair,” left room for significant improvement. “Amelia” promises that and more, with Nair looking to sneak into the final five among Best Director nominees if the powerhouse Oscar campaign team at Fox Searchlight has anything to say about it.

Nora Ephron should never be counted out, especially when she’s got Meryl Streep (the Academy’s most-nominated actor of either gender) and Amy Adams (reuniting with Streep after both received nominations for last year’s superb “Doubt”) in the mix. “Julie & Julia” seems like a hotter commercial prospect than awards fare, though the witty, split-narrative screenplay Ephron has adapted from two separate texts may be impressive enough for writing kudos. Having crashed and burned in 2005 with “Bewitched,” Ephron is ripe for resounding success. Check out this exceptional profile in The New Yorker for an insightful look at Ephron’s colorful life and career. It builds a comprehensive foundational context for her latest turn behind the camera, and illustrates a rare celebrity portrait that exudes cultural relevance beyond the page.

It’s doubtful that Sofia Coppola’s latest melancholy tale, the equivocally titled “Somewhere” (Focus Features), will make it into theaters by year’s end, though stranger things have happened. Set, like “Lost in Translation,” among the dislocating comforts of life in a hotel, “Somewhere” centers around the young daughter (Elle Fanning) of a movie star (Stephen Dorff, apparently gunning for a comeback) and the tenuous relationship they struggle to forge in the wake of the her mother’s death.

Also unsecured for 2009 release is Andrea Arnold “Fish Tank,” a big hit at Cannes, featuring the film debut of Katie Jarvis, a foreigner to acting who was plucked from obscurity to land the lead in Arnold’s latest. Jarvis plays Mia, a spoiled 15-year-old whose self-absorbed mother scoffs at Mia’s passion for hip-hop dancing; Michael Fassbender (“Hunger”) stars as Connor, her mother’s new boyfriend, who represents for Mia her first experience with a sympathetic, genuinely interested human connection. Arnold’s last film, “Red Road” (2005),” was another Cannes contender, and established her promising profile as a filmmaker to watch. “Fish Tank” has been picked up for U.S. distribution by IFC, though plans currently have the film penciled for a 2010 release.