Great Directors

1. Film Studies 120 Great Directors

2. JANE CAMPION I think of my heroines as going into the underworld in a struggle to make sense of their lives. I think the real danger is in playing safe and avoiding the truth of your imagination in your art and in your life.

3. JANE CAMPION • Jane Campion has made seven feature films to date. • Sweetie (1989) • An Angel at My Table (1990) — based on the autobiography of Janet Frame • The Piano (1993) • The Portrait of a Lady (1996) — based on the novel by Henry James • Holy Smoke! (1999) • In the Cut (2003) — based on the novel by Susanna Moore • Bright Star (2009)

4. JANE CAMPION Themes: Madness as a Refusal to Conform

5. JANE CAMPION Themes: Madness as a Refusal to Conform • Feminist theorists and historians have examined the ways in which female protest and refusal to conform to the patriarchal order have been labeled as 'madness'. • Several of Campion's heroines are labeled as 'mad' or 'crazy' by virtue of their refusal to conform to what their society considers to be thefeminine ideal.

6. JANE CAMPION Themes: Madness as a Refusal to Conform • The female protagonists in Campion’s films are labeled as 'mad' because of their refusal to conform to what their society considers to be thefeminine ideal: • For example, film critics have described Dawn (Sweetie) as “insane”, “mentally disturbed”, “obviously unbalanced”, “mentally ill”, “genuinely mad” and “nuts”. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8gBh6YABn4&feature=related

7. JANE CAMPION Themes: Madness as a Refusal to Conform • In this clip, Sweetie is so angry at being left behind that she refuses to speak to her family => she growls and whimpers like a dog, and even tries to bite her father's hand. • Like Ada in The Piano (who also refuses to speak), Sweetie's nonverbal communication and attempted assault on her father's hand manifest her rejection of the “Law of the Father.”

8. JANE CAMPION Themes: Madness as a Refusal to Conform • Sweetie's refusal to conform to the patriarchal order is taken to fatal extremes: in her final scene, she is naked and covered with black paint, shouting obscenities at her father from her tree-house from childhood. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaAgwMJslUU&feature=related • The tragic outcome of Sweetie's rebellion underscores the potential problems in reclaiming madness as protest => for feminist critics, madness represents a position of powerlessness that only serves to reinforce the Law of the Father (Campion’s feminist critique).

9. JANE CAMPION Themes: Madness as a Refusal to Conform • The female protagonists in Campion’s films are labeled as 'mad' because of their refusal to conform to what their society considers to be thefeminine ideal: • For example, in An Angel at my Table, Janet Frame is misdiagnosed as schizophrenic, as a result of her extreme shyness and her inability to socialize. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfj4GI0GqRc&feature=related (8/15)

10. JANE CAMPION An Angel at my Table (1990): Synopsis • New Zealand poet Janet Frame is the subject of this biographical drama. The film begins with a look at Frame's childhood, showing her as a bright but odd-looking, emotionally fragile young girl with a talent for writing. Frame faces great difficulty in adapting to the conventional rural life around her, and her social awkwardness only worsens as she grows older. After she fails in her attempt to become a schoolteacher due to an intense panic attack, she is subject to a psychiatric evaluation and shamefully misdiagnosed as a schizophrenic. Frame is subsequently committed to a mental institution, where she suffers years of unnecessary shock treatments and other horrors. Her salvation comes through her writings, which attract the attention of a renowned author who arranges her release.

11. JANE CAMPION An Angel at my Table (1990) • Originally made as a television mini-series (three parts), An Angel at my Table was later released theatrically as a 155 minute feature. • While Campion consciously avoided the striking framings of composition and color that characterized Sweetie, An Angel at my Table has a strong visual sense in its broad vistas of the New Zealand landscape and its evocation of Janet's private world.

12. JANE CAMPION Themes: Madness as a Refusal to Conform • The female protagonists in Campion’s films are labeled as 'mad' because of their refusal to conform to what their society considers to be thefeminine ideal: • For example, in The Piano, Ada has refused to speak since she was six years old; Campion never tells us why. Her husband Stewart wonders if she's not also “soft in the head”.

13. JANE CAMPION Themes: Madness as a Refusal to Conform • The female protagonists in Campion’s films are labeled as 'mad' because of their refusal to conform to what their society considers to be thefeminine ideal: • For example, in Holy Smoke, Ruth rebels against her suburban upbringing and begins a new life in India. Her family hires a counselor “to bring her back to her senses.” • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgFMdjjdJG8&feature=related

14. JANE CAMPION Themes: Ambiguity

15. JANE CAMPION Ambiguity • The concept of ambiguity is a key feature of art cinema discourse. • The Pianodemonstrated the potential for art cinema to cross over into mainstream commercial success, with its unprecedented box office takings and several Oscar nominations. • Campion is not interested in telling her audience what to think => ambiguity

16. JANE CAMPION Ambiguity • For example, at the heart of The Piano's plot there are many unanswered questions : • Why does Ada refuse to speak? Who is the father of Flora? Why did Ada's father send her away? What to make of the film's conclusion that contrasts an image of domestic 'bliss' with that of Ada suspended at the bottom of the ocean, tied forever to her piano? There is much about Ada's past that is unspoken.

17. JANE CAMPION Ambiguity • The inscrutability of character motivation was the subject of intense critical discussion with regards to Isabel in The Portrait of a Lady: • The ambiguous nature of Isabel's desire is expressed in the openness of the film's ending, as Isabel appears literally frozen on the threshold between escape with Caspar Goodwood and retreat to the oppressive sphere of the domestic: what will Isabel's final decision be?

18. JANE CAMPION Ambiguity • Ambiguity in Campion's films is not limited to her characters => it extends to critical analysis of her own directorial project. • For several film critics, it is unclear whether or not Holy Smokeexplores or exploits alternative belief systems. Does Campion praise or parody Ruth's pursuit of spiritual enlightenment?

19. JANE CAMPION Themes: Romance & Desire

20. JANE CAMPION Romance & Desire • Campion's films suggest she is acutely aware of the risks of romance and the dangers of desire for women in patriarchal society: • For example, in The Piano, while Ada is successful in achieving romantic union with George, it comes at significant cost – the loss of a finger and two attempts at rape by her jealous husband.

21. JANE CAMPION Romance & Desire • However, The Pianowas also the catalyst for debates about what constitutes women's cinema => the film explores female desire and sensibility. • CLIP: Chapters 24-25

22. JANE CAMPION Romance & Desire • In The Portrait of a Lady, the opening credit sequence has contemporary teenage Australian girls discussing the thrill of their first kiss and their romantic aspirations for future relationships. • The girls' voice-overs narrate instances of feminine desire. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrk0uePKRMI&feature=related

23. JANE CAMPION Romance & Desire • In The Portrait of a Lady, Isabel imagines her three suitors lying in bed with her, kissing and caressing her face and body, or looking on with desire. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsNDexNexqM

24. JANE CAMPION Romance & Desire • In Holy Smoke, sex becomes a bargaining chip between Ruth and PJ. Perceiving the weakness at the heart of his machismo, Ruth seduces PJ in an attempt to reverse the power structure implicit in her position as a cult follower in need of 'de-programming'. • PJ assumes the feminized, pathetic position of delirious lover, stumbling across the desert in a red dress and lipstick, finally collapsing and hallucinating images of Ruth as an Indian goddess. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcc3Y642Cv8&feature=related

25. JANE CAMPION The Piano (1993) Holy Smoke (1999) Main Subject: Women, power, and sexuality in the context of contemporary Australia. Main Subject: • Women, power, and sexuality in the colonial context of mid-19th century New Zealand (Scottish colonists)

26. JANE CAMPION The Piano (1993) Holy Smoke (1999)

27. JANE CAMPION Physical & Emotional Violence • The disturbing nature of Campion's films comes from the physical and emotional violence that is inflicted upon the female protagonists: • In Sweetie, Dawn is rejected by her family. • In An Angel at My Table, Janet undergoes electroshock therapy. • In The Piano, Adais assaulted by her husband. • In Holy Smoke, Ruth is hit by PJ.

28. JANE CAMPION Campion’s Films: Themes • The themes of madness as a rejection of the patriarchal order, ambiguity, female desire, and violence as a male’ reaction to women’s emancipation are central to Campion's films.

29. JANE CAMPION Video: Jane Campion talks Bright Star http://www.vanityfair.com/online/oscars/2009/09/video-jane-campion-talks-bright-star.html