MOVIES: Roughing it with NYFF's 'Wendy and Lucy'

Sporting close-cropped, greasy brown hair and one pair of dirty cut offs throughout the movie, Michelle William’s role in New York-based director Kelly Reichardt’s new movie Wendy and Lucy is decidedly unglamorous. But as an acting performance it’s utterly arresting. Williams plays Wendy, a young woman passing through Portland, Oregon on her way to Alaska where she hopes to get canning work. Wendy’s only companion on her frugal journey is her faithful dog Lucy, who goes missing after Wendy leaves her in front of a grocery store where she is arrested for shoplifting some supplies. With her car broken down next to a drugstore and her stash of cash quickly dwindling, Wendy is unmoored from society, sleeping in the back of her car and bathing in the sink of a nearby gas station.

During a press conference following a screening of the movie at the New York Film Festival, Reichardt talked about how the film’s bleak storyline was inspired by the rootless existence of some of the Katrina survivors. Like Reichardt’s last film, Old Joy, Wendy and Lucy was shot in the Pacific Northwest, includes roles for musician Will Oldham and Reichardt’s own dog, and is based on a short story by Jon Raymond. The unlikely collaboration between the Hollywood A-lister and the lesser known director came about through an introduction by Reichardt’s executive producer Todd Haynes, who had recently cast Williams in I’m Not There (which played at the last year’s NYFF). “She had seen Old Joy and was looking to do something outside of Los Angeles or New York,” explained Reichardt. “She was very game even though she wasn’t allowed to wash her hair for 20 days.”

[Wendy and Lucy will be playing at Film Forum for two weeks in December.]

—Karen Wilson

Photo Credit: Oscilloscope / Film Society of Lincoln Center