Barbara Loden's Wanda has been referred to as a "small masterpiece" by the French and I can't agree more. It has no soundtrack or background music, is shot cinema-verité on grainy 16mm and the protagonist played by the Loden (who is also the director and writer) isn't even that redeemable. As the film progresses however your grow to understand Wanda and feel for her predicament and her inability to come up with a viable solution to it.

Wanda is a "floater" explains Elia Kazan (Loden's husband) in an interview. Wanda floats around b/c there's nothing to anchor her like a strong self will. She escapes her predicament and even abandons her children by floating where the current takes her - but you can't help sympathizing with her nonetheless. The irony is that she finally does gain a will, at least some will, by participating in a failed bank robbery in the latter half of the film.

This beautifully honest film has "personal vision" stamped all over it and I wish more films (or any) were made this way nowadays. It's autobiographical and recounts Loden's experiences during her poverty stricken childhood and young adulthood, the fictionalized Wanda character being the springboard for her feelings. Apparently, Loden got the broad outline of the story from a newspaper story about a botched bank robbery involving the title character Wanda Goranski as the accomplice. Wanda is alienated and self-absorbed and passive but you're drawn into her world and understand it a bit.

Wanda's development in some ways mirrors Loden's herself who started out acting but was pushed into directing by her husband. Unfortunately, as her own directing will was developing and maturing we lost Loden at 48 to cancer in 1980. It's a shame b/c after you've seen Wanda you'll wonder what might have been b/c it's surely a masterpiece.

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