Kelly Reichardt

Born in 1964 in Florida, Kelly Reichardt did not go to film school, but for a living her "day job" she gives film and economics classes. She said: "Teaching has taught me a lot".

Simple life, based in New York and travels through USA, and was at some point as broke as Wendy in the movie.

Style

She is known for her minimalist films closely associated with slow cinema, many of which deal with working-class characters in small, rural communities.

Her style could be defined as "slow movies", "low budget", "social realism" -> "independent" and "Neo-neo realism"

Kelly Reichardt's movies are very good showing both people and their environment. For example, historical events are only suggested.

Influences

  • Neo-realism (De Sica, "Umberto D." and "Bicycle Thieve")

  • Robert Bresson

  • New Hollywood (Robert Altman (McCabe and Mrs. Miller), Bob Rafelson (5 easy pieces, Hal Ashby (Shampoo))

Actor direction

She likes to work closely with actors but his quite demanding that actors impersonate their characters. For example, Michelle Williams really slept in a car and did not wash her heir for several days (so during the shooting by-passers did not notice her, while chatting with the technicians of the set).

Wendy and Lucy

Reichardt's third movie, first with a well a know actress (Michelle Williams). She is director, writer and editor.

Low budget: 300 k$ (ten times more than her previous one: Old Joy).

Co-written by old time collaborator & writer Jonathan Raymond.

Set in 2008: Hurricane Katrina, economic crisis. "The main influence was just living in America and watching the divide between the rich and the poor grow so huge"

Lucy

Even though she's not a "dog person", Lucy is Reichardt's own dog. She won Palm Dog Award in Cannes in 2008. "Certain Women" was dedicated to her.

Final word

Reichardt has called her films "just glimpses of people passing through". She enjoys films that let the audience find their own way in and come to their own conclusions.

"It’s about the difference between showing an audience something, and letting an audience see something"