Bette Gordon (born June 22, 1955) is an American filmmaker and
professor at Columbia University School of the Arts. She is best known
for her films Variety (1983) and Handsome Harry (2009) both of which
received critical acclaim in North America and abroad.Gordon began
making films in the late 1970s. It was upon her move to New York City
in 1979 that she became more focused on full length narratives. She
cites French New Wave filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard as a major inspiration
to her as an artist and a filmmaker saying, "Having grown up through
the '70s, I could not have found a more appropriate mentor. His
radical approach to the use of sound and image helped shape me as much
as the questions he asked the viewer to consider, most importantly,
the relationship between truth and fiction." She also lists Wong Kar
Wai's In the Mood for Love, R.W. Fassbinder, John Cassavetes and films
like The Last Picture Show and Midnight Cowboy as inspirational for
their portrayal of relationships and love. She considers the time she
spent in New York in the early 1980s instrumental to her career -
collaborating with other artists for the sake of creating art rather
than making money was instrumental to her development as a filmmaker.
She is a friend of actor Steve Buscemi and cast him in her film
Handsome Harry because she felt as though it was a role unlike any he
had ever played before. Gordon married Australian filmmaker Tim Burns
and they have one daughter, Lili Burns.Gordon is said to be "known for
her bold explorations of themes related to sexuality, violence and
power." Her film Variety explores the relationship between women,
pornography and voyeurism. The title character of the film "turns the
tables on men" by renegotiating the historically exploitative
relationship between men and women with respect to pornographic films.
She says, "My films have always focused on the visual aspects of
storytelling. I've been drawn to stories in which color, texture and
mood are as central to the narrative as character and plot." Though
much of her work is focused on women and the female experience, some
of her recent work - most notably Handsome Harry - examines the social
constraints placed on men and tensions between hetero-normative
masculinity and homosexuality. In the film, described as "relentless"
by a review in the New York Times, the main character is struggling to
confront the emotional and physical trauma he and his friends
inflicted on a homosexual friend while in the Navy many years
prior.Gordon holds a BA, MA, and MFA from The University of
Wisconsinâ€"Madison and is now a part of the film department of
Columbia University School of the Arts. Some of her films are now a
part of permanent collections in several different museums including
the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
professor at Columbia University School of the Arts. She is best known
for her films Variety (1983) and Handsome Harry (2009) both of which
received critical acclaim in North America and abroad.Gordon began
making films in the late 1970s. It was upon her move to New York City
in 1979 that she became more focused on full length narratives. She
cites French New Wave filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard as a major inspiration
to her as an artist and a filmmaker saying, "Having grown up through
the '70s, I could not have found a more appropriate mentor. His
radical approach to the use of sound and image helped shape me as much
as the questions he asked the viewer to consider, most importantly,
the relationship between truth and fiction." She also lists Wong Kar
Wai's In the Mood for Love, R.W. Fassbinder, John Cassavetes and films
like The Last Picture Show and Midnight Cowboy as inspirational for
their portrayal of relationships and love. She considers the time she
spent in New York in the early 1980s instrumental to her career -
collaborating with other artists for the sake of creating art rather
than making money was instrumental to her development as a filmmaker.
She is a friend of actor Steve Buscemi and cast him in her film
Handsome Harry because she felt as though it was a role unlike any he
had ever played before. Gordon married Australian filmmaker Tim Burns
and they have one daughter, Lili Burns.Gordon is said to be "known for
her bold explorations of themes related to sexuality, violence and
power." Her film Variety explores the relationship between women,
pornography and voyeurism. The title character of the film "turns the
tables on men" by renegotiating the historically exploitative
relationship between men and women with respect to pornographic films.
She says, "My films have always focused on the visual aspects of
storytelling. I've been drawn to stories in which color, texture and
mood are as central to the narrative as character and plot." Though
much of her work is focused on women and the female experience, some
of her recent work - most notably Handsome Harry - examines the social
constraints placed on men and tensions between hetero-normative
masculinity and homosexuality. In the film, described as "relentless"
by a review in the New York Times, the main character is struggling to
confront the emotional and physical trauma he and his friends
inflicted on a homosexual friend while in the Navy many years
prior.Gordon holds a BA, MA, and MFA from The University of
Wisconsinâ€"Madison and is now a part of the film department of
Columbia University School of the Arts. Some of her films are now a
part of permanent collections in several different museums including
the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
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