Auteur Study: Jane Campion

From her first major feature, Sweetie (1989) to her most recent, The Power of the Dog (2021), Jane Campion has been one of the most significant filmmakers of her generation, not only as a breakthrough woman director but as a stylist who brings a sharp yet graceful aesthetic to wide-ranging, socially resonant work. Her frequent themes of feminism, marriage, social expectations and eroticism have smartly subverted genres including contemporary family drama, period pieces and television miniseries.

The Piano remains a bold classic of romanticism, even as the film has come under criticism for its depiction of the Maori characters (an important angle to consider). Her period pieces, including the literary adaptation The Portrait of a Lady, infuse the 19th century with a contemporary sensibility. And her television work – recently Top of the Lake but decades ago An Angel at My Table, in 1990 – makes her an excellent director to study at a moment when the lines between cinema and television are blurring.

This course will look at her ongoing career as director and often screenwriter, with particular attention to her visual style in its consistencies and variations. Her aesthetic was established early, including off-kilter camera angles and sumptuous backdrops. But she does not adhere rigidly to a single style. As she continues to work, she remains open to changes in her own approach, using a male perspective and Western genre in The Power of the Dog, and embracing the miniseries form in two seasons of the socially relevant mystery Top of the Lake (which addresses sexual abuse). That openness and adaptability make her career a timely model for young filmmakers.

We will also look at responses to her work and the ever-growing body of scholarship, which includes important reevaluations. In addition to new perspectives on The Piano, for example, her thriller In the Cut has been reclaimed from its initial dismissal as a failure and reconsidered as a major work dealing with female perspective and desire.

Students will be encouraged to arrive at their own assessments of Campion's work, through class discussion, in-class reports, and two substantial papers incorporating research and original analysis.