If nothing else, Kathryn Bigelow has lastingly scotched the assumption that the terms ?woman director? and ?action movie? are somehow incompatible. She herself has grown understandably weary of questioning along these lines, responding tersely that she does not see directing as ?a gender-related job.? But it is undeniable that no other female director has shown herself so adept at handling the intricate, kinetic ballets of stylized violence indispensable to the current Hollywood action genre.
Had Penny Marshall not had show business connections?she is the younger sister of director-producer-writer Garry Marshall?she might not have been allowed the opportunities she received first as an actress, then as a director. But this can be said for any second- or third-generation Hollywood name, from Bridges to Fonda, Carradine to Sheen. Besides, had Marshall lacked the requisite abilities, her career might not have flourished as it has in both venues. Marshall has become one of a generation of actors?Ron Howard and Rob Reiner, her former husband, are others who come to mind?who first ear
The films of Helma Sanders-Brahms have been programmed with some amount of relish at film festivals and in art houses and cinematheques, but it is a safe bet that they never will be mainstream movie fare. They are not engrossing dramas in which the audience can become emotionally involved in the on-screen action. Instead, Sanders-Brahms presents, from a distance, observable archetypes of life, often with a deliberate pacing. Rather than directing actors to express emotion, she prefers ?pent-up? performers who hide their real feelings.
Liv Ullmann created a place for herself in cinema history with her performances in films such as Persona, Cries and Whispers, Scenes from a Marriage, and Autumn Sonata. As an actress, Ullmann?s singular beauty and ability to convey meaning through subtle but expressive gesture brought grace and emotional resonance to the work of Ingmar Bergman, and, for three decades, to scores of film and theatre productions in Europe and America. In 1992 Ullmann began her own directorial career. Because her films have been thoughtful character studies that draw on the creative resources
