Wanda (1971)

US 102m, B&W
Director: Barbara Loden; Cast: Barbara Loden, Michael Higgins

A hopeless drunk housewife in hair curlers, disillusioned with life, leaves her husband and kids and her Pennsylvania coal mining town in search of happiness. Without any sense of purpose, beyond getting to know Wanda, Loden delivers a stark character study of a pitiable uneducated woman who believes that she’s “just no good”. The film’s documentary-like look is delivered with a handheld camera that supports Loden’s realistic performance and the desperate situations in which Wanda finds herself (Klaus Ming March 2015).