Marie: A True Story (1985) [Warner Archive Blu-ray review]

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Marie: A True Story is a mid 1980s movie starring my favorite actress. Also, I forgot it existed until the movie was sent my way to cover. Director Roger Donaldson was a peculiar choice to handle the film, as he hadn’t handled similar material prior to leaving behind the Aussie New Wave. That’s not to overlook his work on Sleeping Dogs, Smash Palace and The Bounty. But, it would be like if Peter Weir directed North Country after helming Master and Commander. It just would have been a wild tonal shift.

Sissy Spacek can do anything she wants

I still can’t believe this wasn’t a TV Movie. For those of us not from Tennessee, Marie Ragghianti was a key figure in the Governor Ray Blanton corruption case of the late 1970s. Afterwards, she rose to prominence in the Clinton administration and generally did well by most. However, she began her journey into politics by escaping an abusive environment in Georgia. After making friends with an assistant to the Governor, Marie began rising through the ranks.

So much of Marie is predicated on knowing a great deal about regional politics of the 1970s. Democratic Governors in the 1970s throughout the South were no different than your typical Trump era Republicans. They ran everything into the ground, so long as they were benefitted. Marie is a story about a lower tier employee saying no to the Governor and then facing the repercussions. That’s right, kids…it’s a legal drama too.

Tennessee is a wild place

While this story took place in the 1970s, it feels even more antiquated than that. Meaning that major studios made films about rural crimes all the time. Then, they stopped caring about anything between the coasts. What resulted was a slant in most modern American narratives where everything either happened in NYC, Los Angeles or once in awhile in Chicago. Certain biases and attitudes were fostered and a great swath of the population checked out because their experiences and lives weren’t available on film.

Couple that with tech changes, more ent