From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kathryn Bigelow (born 27 November 1952) is a American film director. Some of the genres represented in her wide variety of films include science fiction, action and horror.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Personal life 4 See also 5 Filmography 6 External links

She was born in San Carlos, California, USA, as the only child of a paint store manager and a librarian.

Bigelow entered the cinema by way of the art world, starting her creative life as a painter. She took up formal studies at the San Francisco Art Institute for two years before winning a prestigious scholarship to the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program in 1971. Bigelow entered the graduate film programme at Columbia University, where she studied theory and criticism.

Her first short film, The Set-Up (1978), is a 20-minute deconstruction of violence in film. Bigelow's first feature was a biker movie, The Loveless (1982), which she co-directed with Monty Montgomery. Next, she directed Near Dark (1987), which she also co-scripted with Eric Red. Near Dark attracted interest from both critics and horror fans for its unusual blend of genres, bringing together the vampire movie and the western.

In Blue Steel (1990), Jamie Lee Curtis stars as a female rookie who is aware of her own vulnerability. Point Break (1991) stars Keanu Reeves as an FBI agent who poses as a surfer to catch a team of bank robbers. The film was trashed by most critics.

Her 1995 film Strange Days, written and produced by her then-ex-husband James Cameron, failed to attract a major audience. A neo-noir thriller set in Los Angeles at the turn of the millennium, the film focuses on the effects on society of a new technology, S.Q.U.I.D. - Superconducting Quantum Interference Device - which records everything a person experiences, and allows others to relive the sensations when they wear the device and play back the recordings. Woven into this is a murder-mystery plot, culminating in a finale during a New Year's Eve Party, which involved tens of thousands of extras, in and around the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. The film, starring Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett, played heavily with gender stereotypes, making the lead a weak ex-cop who is heavily dependent on a strong woman. Although the action heroine is a clearly visible type in all of Cameron's films, Bigelow made this theme even more explicit, for example dressing Fiennes in elegant, colorful printed silk shirts, while Bassett wears suits and masculine leather outfits.

Based on Anita Shreve's novel of the same name, Bigelow's 2000 film The Weight of Water is a portrait of two women trapped in suffocating relationships. The film is a departure in some ways for Bigelow, in that it doesn’t have the kinetic action or technical dazzle of her previous films. Similar to her other work, however, The Weight of Water shows her continued fascination with families.

Her latest film was the 2002 K-19: The Widowmaker. It's about a group of men aboard the Soviet Union's first nuclear powered submarine.

Her TV credits include episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street (1997-1998), the post-Twin Peaks TV series Wild Palms (1993), and several others. She also directed the music video for the New Order song "Touched by the Hand of God."

Besides being a director, Bigelow has also modelled for a Gap ad, as well as acting in Born in Flames (1983).

Bigelow was married to fellow director James Cameron from 1989 - 1991.

• List of female directors

1. K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)
2. The Weight of Water (2000)
3. Strange Days (1995)
4. Wild Palms (1993) TV Series (Episode: 4)
5. Homicide: Life on the Street (1993-99) TV Series (Episode: "Fallen Heroes: Part 1", "Fallen Heroes: Part 2", "Lines of Fire")
6. Point Break (1991)
7. Blue Steel (1990)
8. Near Dark (1987)
9. The Loveless (1982)
10. The Set-Up (1978)

• Kathryn Bigelow at the Internet Movie Database