Frozen River

This if the first feature from writer and director Courtney Hunt, and was actually nominated for two Oscars last year (best actress and screenplay). Despite losing those, it won a string of other awards, and within a few minutes of this film it's not hard to see why. It follows a single mother in up-state New York, close to the Canadian border, who is desperately trying to scrape some money together to pay for a new house. It's a depressing, powerful film, brilliantly written, and perfectly acted. No one here is pretty, or rich, or lives in big houses. For some reason I think back to It's Complicated, and am astonished in the different values that produced each movie. It is a film, like any great work of art, that shows you a new world (or a new aspect to this world). This film shows you a side of America that you would never of thought of or understood. I say this as a European, but I'm going to guess few Americans know about it either. Indeed, the main character of the film stumbles into this world relatively innocent. The frozen river of the title refers to one on a native American reservation that allows them to traffic in illegal immigrants, a quick way of earning money that the mother becomes involved with. The story here is far more important than the form (no flashy cuts, no loud music), and the story is utterly compelling, told with subtlety and sensitivity. You should watch it after watching the latest Hollywood remake, and it might make you never want to watch another one.