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Wanda (1970)

Posted By: Someonelse
Date: 29 Jun 2011 12:10:05
Wanda (1970)

Wanda (1970)
DVD9 | ISO | PAL 4:3 (720x576) | 01:41:55 | 6,48 Gb
Audio: English AC3 2.0 @ 384 Kbps | Subs: French
Genre: Drama, Art-house | USA

Actress/filmmaker Barbara Loden both directs and stars in the stark little character study Wanda. She plays a girl from a remote mining town, timidly searching for security and love in the big city. After several desultory and abusive relationships, Wanda is "saved" by Dennis (Michael Higgins), who turns out to be a petty crook. Stylistically, Wanda is spare, lean, and understated – on every level. Loden originally shot the film on 16 mm, then blew it up to 35 for arthouse showings.

IMDB

One of a handful of 1970s women's films directed by a woman, Wanda (1970) is a low-key study of a mining-town housewife who wants a little more out of life. Actress/writer/director Barbara Loden's deceptively passive Wanda seems to be a lost soul, as she wanders through coal yards in her curlers, yet she gets a divorce and strikes out on her own, ending up with Michael Higgins' criminal Dennis. Even as he makes her over and she hits the road with him, her inarticulateness becomes her means of resistance, manifesting the paradox faced by women who want to be more than a wife, in a culture that provides few alternatives. This subtle study of character and situation unstintingly reveals the grim reality of Wanda's existence, free of easy solutions or pat conclusions. Produced independently and shot on 16 mm film blown up to 35 mm for distribution, Wanda received accolades at film festivals and in limited arthouse runs, especially for its thoughtful performances.
Lucia Bozzola, Rovi
Wanda (1970)

There is a scene, near the beginning, that shows our main character from a distance walking through mounds of coal to get to her father to ask him for some money. The shot stays on her for what seems like several minutes. The camera simply and slowly pans forwarded as she progresses. Some may say this is boring, others the work of a amateur that doesn't know when to cut. Yet this is a very brilliant shot that shows the true essence of what this film is about and the plight of our character. In life she is constantly walking. Unable to fully grasp the true dissolution of her existence she continues to search for something, anything. She is the victim of life's cruel riddle. A riddle that has no answer.

Wanda (1970)

This is a very sad movie, probably one of the saddest movies you will ever see. It is sad because Wanda's condition is not unique and probably makes up more of the working poor than we care to think. It helps clarify the desperation that people in these circumstances both live and feel. It also helps explain why they will get into such stupid situations and at times make such dumb and illogical choices.

Here drifter Wanda meets up with a two bit crook named Mr Davis. The two create a very odd relationship and actually prove beneficial to each other. She brings out his long dormant tenderness, while he, in one truly touching moment, actually gives her some confidence. Of course it doesn't last, but it is an inspiring piece nonetheless. It shows that even the most pathetic of people, in the most bleakest of situations, can still transcend themselves.

Wanda (1970)

This is actually quite a powerful film. It's very stark, grimy, almost home movie look is actually an asset. No stylized interpretations here. The dingy bars, restaurants, homes, hotels, and factories are all very, very real. You start to feel as trapped in their grayness as the characters. This is a far more billiant and manipulative film than one might initially believe.
IMDB Reviewer
Wanda (1970)

Wanda is an absorbing character study that leaves us empathizing with a woman we know little about. From a feminist standpoint the pitiful Wanda is a worst-case scenario. Basically attractive, she has lost all pride in her appearance and behavior. Bored to the point of brainlessness by marriage to a coal miner, she arrives late at her own divorce hearing, unable to work up the will to care about anything. Wanda's husband complains that she does nothing and won't take care of the kids. She passively states that they'd be better off with him anyway. The judge simply cuts Wanda loose. As far as the male-dominated authorities care, she's an abject failure.

Wanda (1970)

Proferes' camera uses long takes of Wanda walking on a coal road and sitting in bars. She acts indifferent but clearly retains a desire to be wanted. She's an easy pickup for a traveling salesman who later ditches her without a word at an ice cream stand. Men take her to bed but don't want to talk to her. She drifts into a Spanish-language movie theater (with a poster for El Barón del terror outside), falls asleep and wakes to find her few dollars stolen. With just the clothes on her back Wanda barges into a tavern after hours, insisting on using the ladies' room.

Wanda (1970)

That's where Wanda meets the sociopath Mr. Dennis, an "ordinary looking guy" who smokes cigars, drinks too much and treats even worse than the others. He doesn't understand Wanda's passivity and her tendency to hang on to loose men like a lost dog. Wanda accepts his verbal abuse silently and even weathers a few drunken slaps. She doesn't realize it at first, but Mr. Dennis is a wandering bandit who steals cars and holds up liquor stores. He steals clothes out of other peoples' cars, sorting out what he wants to keep at a Goodwill donation box.

Wanda and Mr. Dennis barely connect as human beings yet make a fascinating, fatal pair. She accepts him without question and he presumes she'll go along with whatever he says. The most startling scene comes when Mr. Dennis visits his father, who refuses to accept his money and seems to know that he's a loser heading for more trouble. Mr. Dennis tries his best to put on a false front, but it does no good.

Wanda (1970)

That "old folks" meeting and the extended bank robbery caper that follows give Wanda more similarities to Bonnie & Clyde. The entire sequence is handled in vérité fashion, as was a particularly effective hand-held scene of Mr. Dennis checking door locks in search of a car to steal. Loden pauses for a few conventional narrative effects as Mr. Dennis and Wanda case the bank and invade the house of its manager (Jack Ford). Loser that he is, Mr. Dennis allows the manager to overpower him and Wanda saves the day by recovering his gun. As they prepare to go get their money from the bank Mr. Dennis tells Wanda that she "did good," his only words of praise in the film. Wanda responds with a broad smile. It's chilling to think that life can be that grim. Of course, from this high point Mr. Dennis' flimsy caper goes completely downhill.

Wanda (1970)

Wanda holds our attention because of the interesting characters and Loden's intimate direction. We watch Wanda with a mixture of dread and fascination, straining to detect a social indictment or indication that she's meant to be a feminist martyr or some kind of symbol. That Loden doesn't burden Wanda with any such agenda makes her seem all the more real for it. She may be the homeless person on skid row, the one asking for money with genuine desperation, even if her story is an obvious lie. Wanda is only a couple of steps below the level of the women in the documentary It Was a Wonderful Life; she lacks their fortitude and sense of self-worth.

Wanda (1970)

Critics lauded Wanda when it was shown at film festivals but it never received a real release. Barbara Loden did not make another film although she planned others right up to her death from cancer ten years later. Being the wife of the famous Elia Kazan reportedly turned out to be a liability. Kazan neither supported nor encouraged Loden, yet many people assumed that her career was his doing.
Glenn Erickson, DVD Savant
Wanda (1970)

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