A-List: Female Film Directors
By Josh Spiegel
October 22, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Here's a question: how many women have won an Academy Award for Best Director? If the number you're thinking reminds you of, say, a goose-egg, you're right; the answer is 0. In fact, only three women have ever been nominated for the Oscar: Lina Wertmuller, Jane Campion, and Sofia Coppola. Hopefully (I wish it was a lock, but nothing awards-related is), there will be a fourth nominee this year, despite the fact that her film isn't exactly considered a female-friendly story. Of course, it shouldn't be as shocking a number as it is, when we take into account the absolute shock Hollywood executives seemed to have when movies like Sex and the City and Mamma Mia! did well last year; who'da thunk that women go to movies? What a surprise!
The number of female directors isn't exactly dwindling, to be sure, but there aren't nearly as many as there should be. Luckily enough, there are some great female directors whose filmographies are as unique as varied as they are. A prime example is Mira Nair, the Indian-born director of such films as Monsoon Wedding and Vanity Fair, whose newest film opens this week: it's Amelia, the biography of the famed aviator Amelia Earhart, played in the film by Hilary Swank. This may be Nair's best chance at mainstream success, despite having worked with actors such as Reese Witherspoon and Denzel Washington in the past. Nair aside, this A-List focuses on five women whose directing careers are noteworthy and, hopefully, not finished.
Kathryn Bigelow
Bigelow is a director whose work hasn't been as frequent as it could be, but that's hopefully changing after her indie success of 2009, The Hurt Locker, the first movie about the Iraq war that doesn't seem to shoving any kind of treacly message down the collective throats of the audience. This tense action film might get Bigelow a spot on the Best Director nomination list, if only because Hollywood has been trying so hard for what seems like a long time to make a war movie that actually works. True, the movie never hit any mainstream success, but that's what happens when the studio opens your movie wide against Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, a behemoth in every sense of the word (with the exception of anything having to do with quality). Still, Bigelow's slick directing style along with the fact that the majority of her films, including Strange Days, K-19: The Widowmaker, and the cult classic Point Break, are geared towards men, not women.
That distinction shouldn't really matter, but sometimes, her style is so efficient to not stand out that you couldn't be blamed for thinking that a movie like Point Break came courtesy of Jerry Bruckheimer or Michael Bay. If anything, this is the charm of a journeyman director like Bigelow; not all of her movies are great (for proof, try listening to Harrison Ford's awful Russian accent in K-19 without wanting to throw up, and wonder how she didn't stop the vocalizing in its infancy), but there is a solid and consistent workmanship throughout. The Hurt Locker is not only her best film (I know some people love Point Break, but it's more of a camp-classic love, not genuine love), but it's one of the finest films of the year, and should be a contender for Best Picture. Bigelow has more work lined up, thanks to the success of the film; hopefully, her winning streak can continue.
Amy Heckerling
Two of the most iconic high-school comedies of the past 30 years didn't come from John Hughes and didn't star Molly Ringwald. I know, it might seem like heresy to even suggest it, but I present for your consideration 1982's Fast Times at Ridgemont High and 1995's Clueless. Both films have one thing in common: director Amy Heckerling, who's been responsible not only for these instantly popular movies but for finding a great eye for talent. Before he was a serious actor, an Academy Award-winning star, Sean Penn was a goofy stoner named Spicoli who drove Mr. Hand crazy. Before he was part of the Judd Apatow stable of funnymen, Paul Rudd was the romantic lead opposite Alicia Silverstone in Clueless. What's odd is that, despite having only directed nine movies, Heckerling has been involved with some timeless and/or popular material.
After Fast Times came Johnny Dangerously and National Lampoon's European Vacation. She also directed the first two Look Who's Talking movies, unleashing the primal horror of imagining a baby with the mind of Bruce Willis. What's even more rare is that, for some of her latter films, Heckerling was the writer and director. Unfortunately, Heckerling's work dropped off after Clueless, despite the film being a huge success. She's only made two movies since, and one of them I Could Never Be Your Woman, went straight to DVD (and is an unfortunate victim of being very dated, even if by a year or two). Her comic prowess is still unmatched, but one hopes she can get back in the director's chair soon.
Penny Marshall
Over 15 years, she made seven movies, and though they're not all winners, Penny Marshall has been involved with a fair few that are memorable to this day. In fact, you could almost say that part of Tom Hanks' huge success as a superstar is attributed to Marshall's directing skill. Two of his earlier mainstream hits, Big and A League of Their Own, were helmed by Marshall, previously a star on the '70s sitcom Laverne and Shirley. None of Marshall's movies featured any flash or quirk in the style, but they were all (or tried to be) heartwarming and, in most cases, family-friendly. In fact, only one of her movies tried to be a bit more adult, and it's the last one she's done in the theaters for nearly a decade: Riding in Cars With Boys, starring Drew Barrymore and Steve Zahn. The movie seemed a bit more appropriate as a movie-of-the-week, and she's not directed since.
Still, her work with actors as diverse as Geena Davis, Robert De Niro, Hanks, and Denzel Washington proves her versatility, as do the plots of her films: a boy turns into a grown-up overnight, an angel helps a preacher find the way, a flim-flam artist goes to the Army. Marshall, unlike most directors, couldn't be pigeonholed. Unfortunately, her most recent public image came in some of the most painful ad campaigns, where she and Rosie O'Donnell (a co-star of A League of their Own) tooled around K-Mart for no apparent reasons aside from hefty paychecks. Marshall's talents haven't been proven behind the camera in quite a few years, but she's been producing such films as Cinderella Man and the recently canceled TV show According to Jim. Let's just forget that last credit and cross our fingers that she'll direct again.
Nora Ephron
Here's another female director who Tom Hanks should thank every day when he wakes up. Yes, Big and A League of Their Own were major successes, but what of Sleepless in Seattle or You've Got Mail, two movies that made Hanks and Meg Ryan America's sweethearts? There was something that captured the hearts of the public about the former film, about a recently widowed father who meets the love of his life thanks to a radio show and a cross-country connection. The latter was more of a success simply because Hanks and Ryan were together again, though it's far more forgettable. Ephron recently found more success with last August's sleeper hit Julie and Julia, starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams.
This last film has hopefully salved most of the wounds caused by her other films of the past decade, Bewitched and Lucky Numbers, two movies that you all remember because of how wildly successful they were. Or...yeah, you don't remember because you either didn't see them or want to wash any memory of them from your minds (the sole exception being Steve Carell's hilarious cameo in Bewitched). Though it's mostly been hailed for Streep's performance as Julia Child, Julie and Julia is likely going to boost Ephron's name, if only for making a movie that will probably garner its lead an Oscar nod. Here's hoping her next film isn't as terrible as Bewitched.
Sarah Polley
You have to make a pretty damn good movie for you to be a notable rising star, but Sarah Polley, with only one feature film to her name, managed to do so in 2007, with Away From Her, a moving drama about how an older couple deals with the wife being diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Polley got an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, and the film's female lead, Julie Christie, got a nod for Best Actress. If you haven't seen Away From Her, you must; it's heartbreaking, but truly impressive filmmaking, especially for someone who's only 30-years-old. Polley is mostly known for her onscreen roles, including The Sweet Hereafter and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, but her career behind the camera is exciting to ponder, especially considering how much time she's got to establish herself as a premiere helmer.