If you can’t wait for Kelly Reichardt’s next film, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has something to tide you over. The museum will be hosting a mid-career retrospective of Reichardt’s work, entitled “Powerfully Observant,” next month. The event will include screenings of the six feature-length films Reichardt has helmed since 1994: “River of Grass,” “Old Joy,” “Wendy and Lucy,” “Meek’s Cutoff,” “Night Moves,” and “Certain Women.”
“Kelly Reichardt is a true American auteur,” the MoMA writes of the director. “You know her films when you see them. Her camera focuses on a landscape and remains, still and patient, until the most minor action occurs — and then she holds for a moment more, an audaciously minimalist style that challenges the audience to focus on light, shadow, or the merest sound. Reichardt’s films have always been preoccupied with the ordinary, tricky messes characters cook up in their daily lives, and her characters are conflicted, exhausted, inhabiting unremarkable worlds laden with broken promises.”
“Like all of [my] films, there are slices of life with people that you sort of catch up with,” Reichardt told us when we interviewed her about “Night Moves” in 2014. “Hopefully they are films that ask questions. They all have similar themes — the individual versus the group, what it means to be part of the community, that sort of thing.”
Reichardt’s most recent (and highest grossing) film, “Certain Women,” was named Best Film at the 2016 BFI London Film Festival. The drama follows the intersecting lives of several women (Reichardt muse Michelle Williams, Laura Dern, Kristen Stewart, and Lily Gladstone) living in a small Montana town.
Next, Reichardt will work with writer Patrick DeWitt on an adaptation of his novel “Undermajordomo Minor.” The story follows a young pathological liar named Lucien “Lucy” Minor and his job as Undermajordomo (assistant to the Majordomo) at an isolated, mysterious castle.
“Powerfully Observant” will run September 12–25, 2017 at The Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters in New York. The featured films and their synopses are below, courtesy of the MoMA. Head over to the MoMA’s website for more information.
River of Grass. 1994. USA. Written and directed by Kelly Reichardt. With Lisa Bowman, Larry Fessenden, Dick Russell. 76 min.
Reichardt’s debut feature, first screened at the Sundance Film Festival, tells the tale of Cozy, a small-town girl who thought marrying her high school sweetheart would fix her brokendown life. Named after her father’s favorite drummer, Cozy Cole, she is so starved for attention that she does cartwheels and back flips in her small Florida home and pretends to wave at a nonexistent audience. In some way, her life begins when she meets a stoner named Lee and they go on the lam. But…from what?
Tues, September 12, 7:00PM T2
Sat, September 23, 7:00PM T2
Old Joy. 2006. USA. Directed by Kelly Reichardt. Screenplay by Jonathan Raymond, Reichardt. With Daniel London, Will Oldham, Tanya Smith. 35mm. 76 min.
Kurt and Mark are old friends whose lives have taken various twists and turns since their last meeting. Mark has a house, a job, and a pregnant wife who isn’t thrilled with him running off for a weekend at an Oregon hot springs with the idle Kurt. Kurt reminisces about their town and Mark breaks the news that many of those mom and pop stores are now serving smoothies or overpriced coffee. The beauty of the Pacific Northwest is comes to the fore in extended passages of verdant landscape and silence between the men. Based on a short story by Jonathan Raymond, a frequent Reichardt collaborator.
Weds, September 13, 7:00PM T2
Fri, September 22, 7:00PM T2
Wendy and Lucy. 2008. USA. Directed by Kelly Reichardt. Screenplay by Reichardt, Jonathan Raymond. With Michelle Williams, Will Oldham. 35mm. 80 min.
Film critic Roger Ebert’s 2009 review of “Wendy and Lucy” begins with a prescient comment: “I know so much about Wendy, although this movie tells me so little.” Perhaps Wendy’s story is all too familiar? She’s out of work, has a cool relationship with her family, thinks moving to Alaska will be a panacea, and loves no one but her dog Lucy. Wendy keeps every disappointment, slight, and anxieties bottled up inside, only reacting when Lucy goes missing. Michelle Williams was nominated for several industry awards for her role as Wendy, winning the Toronto Film Critics Association prize.
Thurs, September 14, 7:00PM T2
Sun, September 24, 5:00PM T2
Meek’s Cutoff. 2010. USA. Directed by Kelly Reichardt. Screenplay by Jonathan Raymond. With Michelle Williams, Bruce Greenwood, Paul Dano. 35mm. 104 min.
As three families head west on the Oregon Trail in 1845, it soon becomes apparent that their guide, Stephen Meek, is lost and their lives are in danger from possible attack, exposure, and lack of water and food. This is an uncommon Western tale, focusing on the women who, for lack of a permanent home, fuss over and adjust the meager belongings stored inside their wagons. As the journey becomes more arduous, they must shed tangible links to their past, such as heirloom furniture that weighs down the unwieldy wagons. Alone on the vast plains, the tormented travelers have few options for survival.
Fri, September 15, 7:00PM, T2
Thurs, September 21, 4:00PM T2
Night Moves. 2013. USA. Directed by Kelly Reichardt. Screenplay by Jonathan Raymond, Reichardt. With Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning, Peter Sarsgaard. 112 min.
The environmental thriller “Night Moves,” about a trio of eco-terrorists deep into a plot to blow up an Oregon hydroelectric dam, represents a monumental shift in Kelly Reichardt’s filmography. Each protagonist has a private backstory — dropout, trust-fund baby, exmilitary — that tumbles out in the quiet moments of the film. As in many of Reichardt’s films, the primordial, verdant Oregon landscape often acts as a hushed character in the narrative.
Sat, September 16, 7:00PM T2
Tues, September 19, 7:00PM T2
Certain Women. 2016. USA. Written and directed by Kelly Reichardt. With Laura Dern, Michelle Williams, Kristen Stewart, Lily Gladstone. 107 min.
The lives of four very different women intersect in a small Montana town — but none of them pause to realize how they intersect with one another. If they did, they would resolve some personal issues and maybe bring some consolation into their lives. A frazzled attorney carries on a passionless affair; a married couple decides to build a weekend cabin but realize their
marriage is crumbling; and Beth, a young lawyer, drives four hours in each direction to teach an adult-ed class about some mundane aspect of the law. Actress Lily Gladstone, as the lonely rancher who becomes enamored of Beth, is the true standout in this film. Her face, with its benevolent smile, is as open as the Montana landscape. When her heart breaks, so will yours.
Sun, September 17, 7:00PM T2
Weds, September 20, 7:00PM T2
