Stranger Offers to Find Michelle Williams’ Lost Dog

Times are tough, and good samaritans are hard to come by these days. Given the country's economic doldrums, theoretically we should be living in anarchy. A cinematic embodiment of these times, Wendy and Lucy is a film by director Kelly Reichardt and portrays a financially strapped traveler (played by Michelle Williams) who loses her dog. No one in the town, except for one person, seems to care about her situation. "We knew it was a downer from the start," Reichardt said at last night's Q&A session with Williams, following the opening at Film Forum. However, with the amount of buzz the film has received, one can't help but dig a little deeper for the intentions behind a film where Williams emerges as a quiet power, where the sound of trains are the sole soundtrack and the ending is left as open as the outdoors.

As the deeper questions fired off, Reichardt insisted that the movie’s allure lay in its mystery. “Does anyone want to know all that goes on behind the movie?” she said. “I know we’re supposed to have a Q&A, but the more we talk about these things, the less ... the magic’s gone”.

In terms of directorial style, Williams says Reichardt remained minimalist. “I showed up to the set that day, and Kelly was like, ‘Here’s some cans and some guys (and the cameras were ready to go) so go do a scene with these guys now. And you’re going to do something with your cans.’ So that was the scene,” Williams said. While they were filming, a “weird” guy approached Williams, thinking she had actually lost her dog, and offered his sympathy: “You lost your dog. Bummer,” which Reichardt said she always thought would make an appropriate tagline for the film. “He’s like, ‘Well, I’ll give you a call if I see it’”. No word on whether or not he called, but we’ll keep you posted.