“If there’s specific resistance to women making movies,” said Academy Award-winning director Kathryn Bigelow, “I just choose to ignore that obstacle for two reasons: I can’t change my gender, and I refuse to stop making movies.” Bigelow is known for her intense action films that often use interpersonal power dynamics to explore the deeper meaning of life.
One of Bigelow’s most iconic films, Point Break [1991]–which she developed together with her then-husband James Cameron–exemplifies her mission as a filmmaker to extend the action genre into deep philosophical territory. In Point Break Bigelow tells the story of a rookie FBI agent, Johnny Utah, who goes undercover as a surfer to infiltrate a gang of adrenaline junkie bank robbers led by the charismatic, Bodhi. The film juxtaposes the brotherly free-spirited surfing world with the stifling bureaucratic FBI world.
Bigelow used purpose-built camera equipment to create dynamic mobile shots–of surfing, skydiving, bank robbery, foot chases, and fistfights–that make the audience feel they are witnessing the action from a few feet away. While Point Break is considered an action film, it broke new ground by ultimately not being about surfing big waves, robbing banks, or jumping out of airplanes. It was really about the friendship and rivalry between Utah [played by Keanu Reeves] and Bodhi [played by Patrick Swayze].
Utah falls in love with the world he is supposed to take down. He is seduced by Bodhi’s mystical speeches, such as: “We stand for something. We are here to show those guys that are inching their way on the freeways in their metal coffins that the human spirit is still alive.” Utah’s core similarities with Bodhi forces him to question his beliefs related to spirituality, free will, belonging to a tribe versus an institution, and the pursuit of fulfillment.
Bigelow’s mission as a filmmaker continues to be using dynamic action sequences to spark deeper philosophical conversations. For directing the war drama The Hurt Locker in 2008, she became the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director. To make the win even more significant, one of her competitors in the category was her ex-husband, James Cameron, who had been nominated for directing the mega-blockbuster film Avatar.
