INTRODUCTION
Karyn Kusama is the best modern
living director that general audiences overlook. Consistently, her films or the
work that she is a part of, outright overshadow her own genius. She is a master of shot
composition, storytelling, and a variety of other important filmmaking
techniques. Kusama’s films are beautiful, rich
and vibrant, but also melancholically honest, and gut wrenchingly sad. Everyone
should know the brilliance of Karyn Kusama and elevate her as one of the greatest
Auteurs. To that end, Karyn Kusama is the next subject of my
continual deep dives into directors
that I am passionate about. Like those in the previous
series, I will be analyzing all of the Films Kusama has
directed, with a bonus essay looking at her TV work and her series Yellowjackets.
BACKGROUND
Born in 1968, Karyn Kusama went on to earn her BFA from
the prestigious NYU school of Tisch school of the Arts. After graduating,
Kusama worked in the industry while crafting ideas for future
projects. However, like a lot of women in the predatory misogynistic industry
of Hollywood, she languished in assistant roles, producing music videos, and
even outside work as a nanny way longer than the typical sexist dog whistle of
“paying your dues” is believable. It was 8 years before she was able to make
her first feature, and even with each success, she was given fewer chances to
direct features and through the mid-2010’s through the early 2020’s
was a director for hire on Premium TV, before producing Yellowjackets for
Showtime.
Kusama
is the first director that I will be covering that does not write, produce,
and direct all of their own work. Yet,
this is not due to Kusama’s lack of skill and talent, but rather another
example of the way this industry punishes women. Many women, Kusama included, often take “for
hire” directing jobs just to be able to live, and fund other passionate
projects they may be interested in. Kusama seemed to do this in between each of
her feature films. More broadly, this
speaks to the systemic sexism of Hollywood that not only sees women (and women
behind the camera) as a niche market, giving women in these roles minimal chances
to succeed, and even fewer when the film underperforms.
A
perfect illustration of this sexist double standard is comparing Kusama’s
trajectory with one of her contemporaries, Paul W. S. Anderson.[1] Anderson first came on the scene in 1994 with
the independent film Shopping, which is only remembered for being Jude
Law’s first feature. He then graduates to directing bigger budget films that
performed well (Mortal Kombat, Event Horizon, and Soldier) allowing him
to write and direct The Resident Evil Franchise and AVP: Alien vs,
Predator both of which were critically panned but modestly made money. Anderson
failed upwards as he continued to subject film going audiences to mountains of
cinematic trash (the worst being Three Musketeers and Pompeii) each
with diminishing box office returns and no positive critical buzz. Yet, after
the deathly eruption that was Pompeii, Anderson was still allowed to write,
produce, and direct both the final installment of the Resident Evil series and another
video game adaptation: Monster Hunter, in 2020. His feature film director
credits are double that of Karen Kusama’s despite being of relative same age and
starting in the industry at the same time.
Meanwhile, after she
exploded on the scene with Girlfight, Kusama got swept in the under tow
of cinematic sexism when her second film, the underrated Aeon Flux, was taken away from her by studio executives who recut the film. They changed characters and storylines (believing Kusama’s vision was too much of an art
film) and after it flopped, blamed Kusama for the film's poor box office performance sending
her to “director
jail”; an industry punishment which is absolutely
gendered and keeps women exclusively out of the Director’s
chair. Kusama stayed there for 3
years before Diablo Cody’s next project post Juno fame, Jennifer’s
Body, released her. Unfortunately, because of poor marketing and audiences not
being ready for such a complex story of female relationships (it has a cult
following today), that release from “director jail” was short lived, and Kusama
had to do another 6-year stint. Her Next
feature, 2015’s The Invitation was only released in a limited number of
theaters and for rent or purchase online. This was at a time before the
cultural shift of streaming, and was considered a death sentence for the
film. It was only by the sheer critical acclaim of
the film that allowed Kusama to make her final feature, as of this writing, Destroyer
in 2018.
The poor box office was
always cited as the most criminal offense for Kusama’s directorial
incarceration, thereby creating barriers to making features: slashing budgets,
lack of final cut, more studio interference etc. Yet, when directors like Paul
W S. Anderson, and a whole cavalcade of other douchebag white men with a fraction
of the talent and twice the ego fail a lot harder, they are given three times
the number of chances. Is it any wonder that the
majority of Kusama’s films have feminist themes and largely center on women and
their relationships with others?
THEMES
Most
of Karyn Kusama’s films have a female protagonist and organize around women’s
relationships especially with other women.
Because of this, my forthcoming analysis of each film (plus the bonus
essay on Season 1 of Yellowjackets) will be heavily influenced by feminist
scholarship by Roxane Gay, Adrienne Rich, Judith Butler, RW Connell, Andi Zeisler
and bell hooks; a long with other scholars along the way. What I find intriguing,
that I will explore more in future essays, is the stripping away of the
conventions of gender socialization that Kusama loves to do, complicating her
characters by breaking the stereotypes while still having her characters cling
to them.
Additionally,
the way that Kusama paints with adept precision the complexity and subtle variations
of grief, loss, and existential dread through the prism of a female prospective
is sublime. Many of Kusama’s protagonists are not likable, nor should you root
for them, but they are all compelling. Here Kusama is breaking a convention of
Hollywood at the same time: that women, to be interesting, must embrace the female
stereotypes, or present their emotions in a masculine way. Kusama’s films give
you a beautiful cornucopia of female perspectives and expressions that change
as the experiences of the film shape them and their decisions. None of the
women in her stories escape unscathed and it is the wrestling with these ideas
in the complex way that make her films exquisite.
CONCLUSION
To my
shame, Karyn Kusama was one of my first “puzzle piece” directors whose work I
fell in love with. By “puzzle piece” director I mean that I fell in love with Kusama’s
films independently prior to knowing that they were all directed by the same
person. But once I put the puzzle pieces of her films together, I found a
brilliant auteur whose work I always anticipate[2]. It is my hope, that through this series, and
my analysis, you will not only be introduced to and come to appreciate Kusama’s
work, but also see the Sociological and Feminist relevance in her storytelling.
[1]
Not to be confused by Paul Thomas Anderson Who has also jumped off a cliff with
his recent film Licorice Pizza
[2] I
am extremely bummed that she had creative differences and left her recent
Dracula project called Mina Harker
