Unlikely Rivals on the Oscar Circuit

With the Oscar campaign officially underway, I found myself this weekend in the company of the two most prominent women directors in the race – women who share a zeal for filmmaking but whose approach and presentation could not be more at odds.

Jane Campion, 55, made a quintessentially romantic picture in “Bright Star,” but in person she is cerebral, somewhat severe, leans toward post-hippie attire and seems perplexed by the rigors of the award circuit.

Kathryn Bigelow, 57, is tall, model thin, a one-time art student whose gracious manner belies her proclivity for tense, even violent films – “The Hurt Locker” is her contender. Campion did a film about Keats, the English romantic poet, because she realized a few years ago that she was ignorant of the great poets and was determined to read her way through them. She fell in love with Keats’s writings and wanted to tell the story of his fervidly frenetic love affair (he died at age 25).

Bigelow became fascinated with the struggle in Iraq and its impact on its combatants and, with writer Mark Boal, was determined to overcome the resistence to Iraq movies. By nature, she’s more intrigued by man’s love of war than his other romantic expressions.

Indeed, Bigelow’s favorite filmmaker is Sam Peckinpah, whose films were at once violent and impactful.

Both “Hurt Locker” and “Bright Star” are, in a sense, classic art films and could benefit richly if they were showered with nominations. As reluctant spokepersons for their own work, both Bigelow and Campion understand the importance of the game and also its perils.

The films, like their filmmakers, are startlingly different – Campion’s is self-consciously literary, Bigelow’s is devastatingly realistic. Campion’s distributor is the wily Bob Berney, whose company is new to the game. Bigelow’s picture was picked up by Summit, which hit the jackpot with “Twilight” and has money to spend, if it wants to.

On the circuit, Bigelow fascinates audiences, Campion is more stand-offish. They don’t know each other and don’t want to compete. But their paths will keep crossing as the Oscar season progresses and there’s no way of handicapping the results at this early point.

Keats vs. Iraq: Now that’s downright weird.