How far does “Winter’s Bone” rely upon an understanding of its social context? Refer in detail to at least one sequence from the film.

In the scene where Ree is walking her siblings to school the first frame shows them all walking with the dogs who walk freely without collars or leashes. This shows the pack like nature of the family and how close knit they are as a group. Linking them to animals represents their struggle for survival, just like animals in the wild. We also hear Ree giving her sister a spelling test which she struggles with, this relies on an understanding of social context because represents the lack of education and opportunity these children face in their situation. The close up shot of Ree behind the closed door watching her little sister in school shows her isolation from her own childhood. She lost it when her mother got too ill to look after her and her siblings and there is no way she could get it back. This is followed on by Ree looking in on the parenting classes. I felt here that she had the natural learning process of parenting ripped away from he. She had to grow up very quickly to become a parent to her younger siblings out of desperation and to avoid utter poverty. The theme of Ree being shut out is continued when she watches the army cadets. We learn later in the film that Ree wishes to join the army but her responsibilities at home are piled too high. This shows how utterly trapped she is. She has no means of income and hungry mouths to feed. The social context of the film is vital to this because the harsh reality of financial instability hits so much harder. Also, Ree’s interest in the army is extremely symbolic as it shows her yearning for order, therefore emphasising the chaos of her home life and her relationship with her parents. The shot of Ree walking past the shining trophies is telling of her attitude towards achievement. It’s clear she has given up here and has accepted the fact that her opportunities are too limited to achieve anything other than just enough to keep going.

The shot reverse shot between Sonya and Ree as they meet and the presence of the diegetic sound of the wind and the horses creates an awkward tension between the two women and we begin to feel the mood of the area is very secretive and territorial. The mid-sot of Sonya’s hard stare towards Ree when she asks for her help makes me feel as though survival is difficult and people aren’t prepared to give up their resources for others straight away. This links to the understanding of social context because loyalty is key in the area and all relationships are based around family. It also relies on social context because the area is full of strong and volatile women, who although ultimately controlled by a patriarchal hierarchy, are unafraid to fight for what they need and what they believe in. when the police car rolls in the diegetic sound of barking dogs can be heard which I found interesting because of the provincial mood of the last moment between Sonya and Ree. Women and dogs seem to be compared throughout the film because they are shown to have the same kin based values as dogs and work in a pack like way with their close family. I think this is a very interesting way of putting this across because of the way it all leads back to the fundamentals of survival.