Rough Ride into the North Country

Even in the opening credits, it's obvious that North Country is going to be a rough ride. It begins with protagonist Josey Aimes leaving an abusive marriage with her two kids in tow. If this isn't enough of an indication of the state of things, the bleak, barren, expanse of snowy, rural Minnesota is clearly symbolic of the life Josey has led so far, and the ridged landscape indicative of the hurdles to come as she leads the nation's first class action sexual harassment lawsuit.

A subject as intense as this has the potential to break down the viewer, but in director Niki Caro's hands, North Country contains a palatable proportion of varying emotions. Subtlety is key in a movie of this magnitude, and Caro beautifully delivers on the filmmaking maxim of "show, don't tell." For example, while delving into Josey's formative past, Caro expertly practices this art by not showing the sixteen year-old Josey tell her proper and respectable parents that she is pregnant. Instead, Caro chooses to show only the reaction of Josey's father. This move not only packs a greater emotional punch, but also reveals sufficient information for the scene to be complete while simultaneously leaving enough ambiguity for successful plot point development.

Furthermore, not assaulting viewers with the gut-wrenching task of witnessing such a disclosure enables them to experience and endure the grotesque displays of sexual harassment that are the focal point of the film.

In order to recover from her destructive relationship, Josey, wonderfully portrayed by Charlize Theron, begins working in the local iron mines, before sexual harassment policies exist. Women were strongly, even forcefully, discouraged from doing "men's work." What these women endure while working in the pit, the miners' symbolic equivalent to the women's uphill social and legal battles, ranges from a seemingly harmless dildo in a lunchbox prank to regular molestations, sexual slurs written in feces on the women's locker room walls and physical and sexual attacks in secluded areas of the work site.

To the male workers, their jokes are amusing. But there is nothing funny about watching a well-intentioned, hard-working woman being tipped over in a box of sewage and refuse to the jeers and taunts of chauvinistic, disrespectful male co-workers.

North Country, a film whose brief online synopsis misleads some to believe it is a standard chick flick, is the antithesis of the typical fluff of the generally dismissed genre. Although the term chick flick is often used in a condescending manner referring to a film not worth the celluloid it's printed on, I would argue that any film as supportive, empowering and potentially mobilizing of women as North Country, is what a chick flick should be. Not only is the narrative hard hitting, but the script itself is excellently crafted. Technically, North Country is a superb film, as the editing and cinematography are masterful and advanced both in their artistic quality and in the way they contribute to the advancement of the story and development of characters.

Furthermore, the performances are stronger and better than anything I've seen of late. Theron convincingly adopts a rural Minnesota accent and once again downplays her beauty to successfully portray the resilient and determined Josey. The always wonderful Frances McDormand is the quintessence of what acting should be as she excellently becomes Glory, who is both a thick-skinned mine worker and union leader, and a woman doing what she must to make it in a man's world.

Surprisingly enough, the expertly executed supporting performance of Sissy Spacek, as Josey's mother, is quite possibly the strongest, most fascinating portrayal in the movie. Her character and performance move, inspire and are further a testament to the power and strength of women, despite often being perceive as benign and inconsequential by the men around them. In Caro's perfected subtle style, Spacek's homemaker character easily becomes one of the primary catalysts in the crusade for the equality and protection of working women.

North Country is a fantastic film, not only because of the story it admirably chooses to tell, but also because of the perfection with which it executes the undertaking. Caro does justice to the story of these pioneers and does not diminish or underplay, for the sake of the viewer, the hardships these women endured for the benefit of women to come. North Country is an enlightening and fulfilling trip to the theater and absolutely worth the $8.00, and even the $10.00 if you forget your GOCard.

Ferrante is an assistant editor and a government junior