The Woodsman | Nicole Kassell | 2005
The Woodsman
Dir. Nicole Kassell 2005
I'd heard about this film on SF (or SF_D, I can't remember) and it intrigued me in that sort of 'omg wut?' sort of way. So when SBS showed it as part of the American Indie Film Festival, I decided to watch it.
This is not a pleasant film to watch by any means. It is very stark in its cinematography, everything is stripped to its raw bones, presenting the narrative in sharp clarity without trying to soften the story.
The Woodsman is the story of Walter (Kevin Bacon), a convicted pedophile who returns to his hometown when he is released from prison. It's been 12 years since he was incarcerated and the world has moved on. He gets a job at a lumberyard, having been a carpenter prior to his conviction, and keeps to himself. His low rent appartment is, in a cruel irony, across the street from an elementary school. He watches from his window as another man befriends young boys, and writes about what he sees in his diary, a suggestion made by his psychologist.
Walter is treated with suspicion by his brother in law, shunned by his sister, and watched very closely by the local police officer. In contrast, he is befriended by Vicky (Kyra Sedgewick, Bacon's real life wife), who, shocked when she learns of his past does not turn away from him. When the truth is revealed to his work colleagues, it is Vicky and Walter's boss who stick up for him.
Walter's urges are never fully under his control. He watches a young girl on the bus on the way to work, then follows her through a park one day on his way home. They talk about birds, and it's while he is talking to this young girl that Walter actually seems to come alive. All interactions with his contemporaries are shrouded in suspicion of their potential ulterior motives; Walter knows exactly what Officer Lucas (Mos Def) thinks of him but he is as guarded with Vicky, with whom he shares a strange bond (she has been sexually assaulted by her brothers while growing up) as he is with Lucas.
The second encounter with the young girl sees Walter ask her with an almost shy eagerness if she would like to sit on his lap. Her reaction to his question is not what he expected - he realises that she is being abused by her father. It's fascinating watching the realisation of what she is going through and the horror he feels at this knowledge - even though he has done the same thing - dawn on Walter. As she says she will sit on his lap if he still wants her to, he says to her, no, he doesn't. This is a major turning point for the character and shortly after, he encounters the young man with one of the boys from the elementary school. It's obvious both to Walter and the audience what has gone on between the two, and the audience takes satisfaction in the beating Walter gives the man even as he himself sobs. In beating up the man, Walter is also beating himself, and when Lucas visits him the following day, he is obviously aware of the fact Walter assaulted the man. The man is in hospital and unable to ID his assailant, but Lucas lets Walter know that he approves of the beating - the man is wanted in another state for child rape.
Walter's life takes a more positive and healthy turn after this, he moves in with Vicky and begins the slow and painful process of healing the rift between him and his sister.
This is by no means a happy film despite the ending. Walter is a sad and lonely man, caught up in his own twisted desires and his sense of not being able to change himself no matter what he does. Vicky is the catalyst for his change, her support of him and her confidence in him of her own childhood secret sets him on the path towards the ultimate realisation that he has to want to heal himself that comes when he learns of his would-be victim's own ongoing assault at the hands of her father and when he beats up the pedophile across the street from his appartment.
This film does not glamorise pedophilia in any way, but it also manages to present the subject matter in a sensitive and understated manner. There's no glorification and the characters are well developed and brilliantly acted. Kevin Bacon shows his range as an actor by communicating so much with only his facial expressions and the way he walks, shoulders hunched, head lowered. Mos Def as the police officer is both cocky and sly, friend and foe. He constantly keeps Walter on edge, invading Walter's space like a panther, aware of his prey and waiting for the right moment. Kyra Sedgewick is brilliant as Vicky, playing her as a strong, independant and loving woman, accepting of her past pain but not allowing it to define her as a person.
The real stars of this however, are the child actors, who are skillfully and gently directed. Particularly Hannah Pilkes who plays Robin, the girl Walter befriends at the park intending to be his next victim. Pilkes researched the role with her mother and a psychiatrist in order to portray Robin's emotional trauma believably and the direction is very understated and raw, like a broken eggshell.
Overall a very powerful, moving film, where no-one is innocent and everyone is scarred, but some manage to rise above and beyond their pain while others struggle with it. Not an easy watch, and certainly not something for light entertainment, but definitely an engaging film worthy of viewing if you're in the right frame of mind for something serious and gritty, full of realism and confronting a difficult and unpleasant subject.
Dir. Nicole Kassell 2005
I'd heard about this film on SF (or SF_D, I can't remember) and it intrigued me in that sort of 'omg wut?' sort of way. So when SBS showed it as part of the American Indie Film Festival, I decided to watch it.
This is not a pleasant film to watch by any means. It is very stark in its cinematography, everything is stripped to its raw bones, presenting the narrative in sharp clarity without trying to soften the story.
The Woodsman is the story of Walter (Kevin Bacon), a convicted pedophile who returns to his hometown when he is released from prison. It's been 12 years since he was incarcerated and the world has moved on. He gets a job at a lumberyard, having been a carpenter prior to his conviction, and keeps to himself. His low rent appartment is, in a cruel irony, across the street from an elementary school. He watches from his window as another man befriends young boys, and writes about what he sees in his diary, a suggestion made by his psychologist.
Walter is treated with suspicion by his brother in law, shunned by his sister, and watched very closely by the local police officer. In contrast, he is befriended by Vicky (Kyra Sedgewick, Bacon's real life wife), who, shocked when she learns of his past does not turn away from him. When the truth is revealed to his work colleagues, it is Vicky and Walter's boss who stick up for him.
Walter's urges are never fully under his control. He watches a young girl on the bus on the way to work, then follows her through a park one day on his way home. They talk about birds, and it's while he is talking to this young girl that Walter actually seems to come alive. All interactions with his contemporaries are shrouded in suspicion of their potential ulterior motives; Walter knows exactly what Officer Lucas (Mos Def) thinks of him but he is as guarded with Vicky, with whom he shares a strange bond (she has been sexually assaulted by her brothers while growing up) as he is with Lucas.
The second encounter with the young girl sees Walter ask her with an almost shy eagerness if she would like to sit on his lap. Her reaction to his question is not what he expected - he realises that she is being abused by her father. It's fascinating watching the realisation of what she is going through and the horror he feels at this knowledge - even though he has done the same thing - dawn on Walter. As she says she will sit on his lap if he still wants her to, he says to her, no, he doesn't. This is a major turning point for the character and shortly after, he encounters the young man with one of the boys from the elementary school. It's obvious both to Walter and the audience what has gone on between the two, and the audience takes satisfaction in the beating Walter gives the man even as he himself sobs. In beating up the man, Walter is also beating himself, and when Lucas visits him the following day, he is obviously aware of the fact Walter assaulted the man. The man is in hospital and unable to ID his assailant, but Lucas lets Walter know that he approves of the beating - the man is wanted in another state for child rape.
Walter's life takes a more positive and healthy turn after this, he moves in with Vicky and begins the slow and painful process of healing the rift between him and his sister.
This is by no means a happy film despite the ending. Walter is a sad and lonely man, caught up in his own twisted desires and his sense of not being able to change himself no matter what he does. Vicky is the catalyst for his change, her support of him and her confidence in him of her own childhood secret sets him on the path towards the ultimate realisation that he has to want to heal himself that comes when he learns of his would-be victim's own ongoing assault at the hands of her father and when he beats up the pedophile across the street from his appartment.
This film does not glamorise pedophilia in any way, but it also manages to present the subject matter in a sensitive and understated manner. There's no glorification and the characters are well developed and brilliantly acted. Kevin Bacon shows his range as an actor by communicating so much with only his facial expressions and the way he walks, shoulders hunched, head lowered. Mos Def as the police officer is both cocky and sly, friend and foe. He constantly keeps Walter on edge, invading Walter's space like a panther, aware of his prey and waiting for the right moment. Kyra Sedgewick is brilliant as Vicky, playing her as a strong, independant and loving woman, accepting of her past pain but not allowing it to define her as a person.
The real stars of this however, are the child actors, who are skillfully and gently directed. Particularly Hannah Pilkes who plays Robin, the girl Walter befriends at the park intending to be his next victim. Pilkes researched the role with her mother and a psychiatrist in order to portray Robin's emotional trauma believably and the direction is very understated and raw, like a broken eggshell.
Overall a very powerful, moving film, where no-one is innocent and everyone is scarred, but some manage to rise above and beyond their pain while others struggle with it. Not an easy watch, and certainly not something for light entertainment, but definitely an engaging film worthy of viewing if you're in the right frame of mind for something serious and gritty, full of realism and confronting a difficult and unpleasant subject.