The Year of Spectacular Men

In Lea Thompson’s directorial debut with her daughters as the female leads, The Year of Spectacular Men, she tells the story of Izzy and her last months of college as well as the year that follows. She spends that year with her sister and meets various guys, looking for answers and endings but comes to realize that she doesn’t need an ending just yet. Despite the title, this indie film is about sisterhood and family. One of the most important lines, spoken by the mother (also played by Lea Thompson) is “Bitches need bitches”. The range of moods of the film are helped to be conveyed and emphasized through a variety of shots, blocking, lighting changes, and costume designs. The darkest lighting seems to be when Izzy is with her various boyfriends and flings, while the brightest are when she’s with her sister. This is not an attack on men, but an emphasis that her sister Sabrina is a source of light in all of her struggles. As annoying as she can be, she’s always trying to help and be there for her big sister and vice versa when Sabrina and her boyfriend breakup. One scene stuck out in terms of blocking when Sabrina came into Izzy’s new room after she moved into her sister’s home. Sabrina walks in with a yoga ball and starts doing sit-ups while Izzy is still asleep in a depression after struggle with men in New York. The blocking here is unique in that Sabrina keeps popping up from her sit-ups, angled so that she’s popping over Izzy’s head - like a voice of reason telling her she’s here in Los Angeles now and it’s time for a new start. The pep talk and perkiness of Sabrina was not necessarily welcomed, but it was important for Izzy, as the set up conveyed. The mood also changes when the regular, medium shots switch to close ups to create tension or during a fight. Similarly, long shots are scarce, but were typically done to show a character’s perspective: Izzy looking towards her boyfriend from the kitchen to the living room or when she watches Sabrina’s boyfriend sneak back in the house after not making it home the night before (spoiler: he cheated). Finally, towards the end of the film we see both Izzy and Sabrina laying on the street, wearing white as their focus color. This is something the audience does not see them in throughout the film, but here they are wearing unified colors - though each still in their own unique style. The choice of white in this scene is so important as it’s a scene where the two sisters come to moments of clarity of what each of them need and forgiveness for hidden family secrets. They are whole in this scene and that could not have been achieved without being at each others sides throughout their lives.