52 Films by Women Vol 8. 31. Janet Planet (Director: Annie Baker)
Pictured : Janet ( Julianne Nicholson , left) and her daughter Lacy ( Zoe Ziegler , right) in a scene from the drama, ' Janet Planet ', written and directed by Annie Baker . Still courtesy of A24 Films (US), Sony / Stage 6 Films (UK) Extraordinary films sneak up unawares. They can transcend plot synopses, wow you with ideas and technique. As demonstrated by her debut feature, Janet Planet , writer-director Annie Baker isn’t merely cine literate, she’s cine articulate. She utilises the grammar of film to express difficult emotions. Her film has great scenes, strong moments, exchanges that cut to the quick. She uses framing, camera position, captions, editing, sound and performance – posture rather than emotional displays – to make the audience lean in and zoom out. Describing a film as staying with the viewer is something of a cliché – one of the finite modes of praise found in movie advertising. But Janet Planet , set in the summer of 1991, really does stick. I left the a...