women’s issues – We Are Movie Geeks

WOMEN TALKING – Review

(l-r) Rooney Mara stars as Ona, Claire Foy as Salome, Judith Ivey as Agata, Sheila McCarthy as Greta, Michelle McLeod as Mejal and Jessie Buckley as Mariche, in director Sarah Polley’s film WOMEN TALKING. An Orion Pictures Release. Photo credit: Michael Gibson. © 2022 Orion Releasing LLC. All Rights Reserved.

There is a lot of talk about WOMEN TALKING – awards talk. The title of this electrifying ensemble drama may suggest something tame but the fiery WOMEN TALKING is no polite, quiet chat but a deep, sarcastic, no-holds-barred, even funny, and thought-provoking discussion among a group of Mennonite women who are meeting secretly in a barn to talk about what to do after a series of brutal attacks on them.

Women in the colony have been waking up beaten, bloody and in pain, with no memory of what had happened. The men tell them they are being attacked by the devil, or maybe it is just “wild feminine imagination.” Until they catch an attacker – and discover it is men in their own colony who have been drugging and raping women in the night.

A brilliant ensemble cast is at the heart of this amazing drama, a cast that includes Frances McDormand, Rooney Mara, Jessie Buckley, Claire Foy, and Judith Ivey, who fire-up director Sarah Polley’s screenplay. The screenplay is based on Miriam Toews’ novel, which in turn was based on real events that took place in a Mennonite community in Bolivia. Toews herself grew up in a Mennonite community, in Canada, which she left in her late teens, which gives her a deeper understanding of this community, But what transpires in this film goes well beyond this conservative religious community, offering a universal message on women’s rights and place in human society.

This is a fascinating, intelligent and engrossing drama, with deeply thought-provoking discussion among women with more widely differing opinions than we expect. They engage in the kind of electrifying conversation any thinking person would relish listening in on. The women in this restrictive male-dominated community may not have been taught to read or write, but they certainly have sharp brains and sharper tongues, which means this drama is filled with crackling, intelligent dialog. Their hard, practical lives incline them to plain speaking, and their voices get free rein away from men’s ears. Their sometimes-heated discussion includes a range of views, of fears and worries, and of practical matters, but also ranges into the profound, the spiritual, and the philosophical as they contemplate the changes they want for their future.

Waiting until the men have gone to town to bail out the attackers, who have been arrested, the women seize the little time they have to speak plainly and bluntly about what they are going to do. Only one man is present, the school teacher August (Ben Whishaw), an outsider whose mother was expelled from the colony for asking too many questions. August’s only reason for being there is to take the minutes, since the women can’t read or write. The women decide to take a vote on three choices: Do nothing and forgive the men, stay and fight for justice, or leave the colony.

But when the vote results in a tie between staying and fighting or leaving, the women face a ticking clock. They must decide before the men return.

When the vote narrows the women’s choices to two: staying and fighting for their rights or leaving the colony, a group of women directly involved in the attacks are chosen to decide which of the two choices it will be. As it happens, two families are represented. One is led by elder Agata (Judith Ivey), with her daughters Ona (Rooney Mara) and Salome (Claire Foy), and Neitje (Liv McNeil), a niece of Salome. The other is led by elder Greta (Sheila McCarthy), with her daughters Mariche (Jessie Buckley) and Mejal (Michelle McLeod), and Mariche’s daughter Autje (Kate Hallett). Frances McDormand’s character Scarface Janz is the elder of another family, represented the losing option of doing nothing. She and her daughter Anna (Kira Guloien) and granddaughter Helena (Shayla Brown) are included in the early part of the discussion. As an older woman with a widowed daughter and blind granddaughter, Scarface Janz feels the other choices are too a big a risk for her.

While there is violence behind the story, this is not a violent film. The attacks have already taken place before the women gather to talk, but the events are recapped briefly in an opening sequence (meaning one does not want to miss the film’s first few minutes). The attacks are alluded to in periodic flashbacks, but it is handled deftly without showing the violence, just shots with some blood in the aftermath.

The discussion is also not non-stop, broken up by both the flashbacks and glimpses of the world around them, particularly the children playing in the fields outside the barn. Breaks are taken, and there are private conversations. A wonderful score by Hildur Guonadottir also lightens the mood or deepens it. Breaks are taken, and there are private conversations. Cinematographer Luc Montpellier uses desaturated color, which gives that world an old-fashioned, sepia tone look, but one of great beauty as well.The film uses desaturated color, which gives that world an old-fashioned, sepia tone look, but one of great beauty as well. At one point, the outside world intrudes, when a census taker appears, in a comic and rather surreal bit.

Although the women are the main characters, there is one man present in the barn, August (Ben Whishaw) as the boys’ teacher, who is there only to write down what is said, since the women cannot read or write. August is considered an outsider but he is the son of a woman whose was expelled from that colony for asking too many questions. August returned after college, hired to be the colony’s teacher for the boys, but he also returned in part due to his feelings for Ona (Rooney Mara). August’s presence adds some balance to the perspective, representing a gentler kind of man and offering insights when asked about the future of their sons.

The ensemble cast presents a variety of viewpoints, and represent differing ages and concerns that influence those views. The two young girls who caught the attacker are adamant that the men cannot be forgiven, but they are also bored with all the talk, and play and prank as the discussion progresses. Some fear change, others fear their own rage. These deep discussions, often profound, always engrossing, and sometimes emotionally raw, range well beyond just these attacks and the concerns of this conservative religious community. But the discussions are sometimes punctuated with humor, and even with little petty conflicts.

The acting is superb throughout, in the ensemble scenes and more individual ones. Clarie Foy’s Salome and Jessie Buckley’s Mariche often face off, in fiery exchanges where both actresses shine, while the older women are often the peacemakers. Actually, the older actresses, Sheila McCarthy and Judith Ivey, are really the acting standouts, stealing scenes as McCarthy’s bird-like Greta teaches with fables about her two horses, while Ivey’s steady Agata often diffuse conflict by song or reminding the women to take a higher point-of-view.

WOMEN TALKING was inspired by real events, attacks that took place in a Mennonite community in South America, but the film is more universal. This striking drama debuted at the Toronto film festival, and since then, it has garnered both critical acclaim and awards, particularly for its sharp dialog and electrifying ensemble cast, along with strong Oscar buzz.

Don’t be put off by the title or the idea of women talking in a barn. There is plenty of emotional fire, wit, and intelligent discussion on women and society’s treatment of them, global topics for all to consider.

WOMEN TALKING opens Friday, Jan. 20, in theaters.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

MOTHERING SUNDAY – Review

*Odessa Young as Jane Fairchild, Josh O’Connor as Paul Sheringham in MOTHERING SUNDAY. Image by Jamie D. Ramsay (SASC). Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.*

What looks at first like period drama, a steamy “Downton Abbey,” set in England in the wake of World War I, morphs into something deeper and more far-reaching, as MOTHERING SUNDAY follows the changing life of a young maid, tracing the awful legacy of that devastating war and the transformations it wrought, and also depicting a literary awakening and three stages in an artist’s life.

MOTHERING SUNDAY starts out in1924 at a British country manor house on Mother’s Day, known there as Mothering Sunday, when aristocrats traditionally gave their servants the day off to visit their mothers. Young Jane Fairchild (Odessa Young) was raised in an orphanage so she has no mother to visit. However, she has other, secret plans, to visit her lover, Paul (Josh O’Connor, the young Prince Charles on “The Crown”), the son of aristocrat friends of her employers, kindly Mr. Niven (Colin Firth) and stern, unsmiling Mrs. Niven (Olivia Colman), who are joining Paul’s parents to picnic on the banks of the Thames along with another aristocratic couple whose daughter, Emma Hobday (Emma D’Arcy), is engaged to Paul.

But Paul is going to show up late, claiming he’s studying, although he’s really meeting Jane , his longtime lover, at his home, for a rare chance for them to enjoy a comfortable real bed. We get scenes of the maid and young aristocrat cavorting joyfully, with full frontal nudity by both Odessa Young and Josh O’Connor.

After her lover Paul departs, young Jane wanders, sans clothing, around the deserted mansion, as the film flashes back and forth in time. Also inter-cut are scenes with the aristocratic families picnicking on the banks of the Thames, the party that Paul is going to join.

The nudity is one of the things that lingers in the mind with this drama, along with its unusual non-linear structure. Despite the film’s unusual structure, we are never lost or unclear about where or when we are, a tribute to director Eva Husson’s skill. The film also impresses with its rich visual beauty and the gem-like performances explore the lasting impact of the particularly devastating WWI.

The flashbacks show Jane earlier in her long romance with Paul, as well as going about her work at the Nivens’ mansion or in conversation with another maid, who lost her fiance to the war. It jumps forward in time to scenes of her working in a bookstore and with a philosopher played by Sope Dirisu, who became her husband, and then Jane late in life as a famous writer, played by the legendary Glenda Jackson. It is a life of loss and triumph, from humble beginnings.

The class divide dooms Jane and Paul’s romance while Paul’s engagement is a more “suitable” marriage for both young people. But it is a prospect less wanted by either of the engaged young people than their parents, the reasons for which are eventually revealed.

This story does not remain the steamy period romance it appears to be at first, although we sense a sadness underneath from the start. We first meet Jane as a young maid, who was born the out-of-wedlock daughter of a maid, raised in an orphanage, and working as a servant in an aristocratic house and having an affair with a young aristocrat. It is not a life with great promise but in shifting times, Jane’s life takes her far from the manor house, through a number of changes as she becomes the famous writer she will be.

Director Eva Husson’s film, using a script by Alice Birch, departs from the original story by Graham Swift but in doing so, the film expands its scope include the bigger shifts in British society at the time, as well as the remarkable life of this woman.

The film is flooded with a deep visual beauty, particularly in the earliest part, thanks to Jamie Ramsay’s fine photography. The tragedy of the war, and other losses that follow, shape Jane’s life indirectly but while there is plenty of personal heartbreak and loss in this tale along with its triumphs.

The film sports an impressive cast of British greats, although many of them get only brief screen time. Still, they each deliver gem-like performances. Olivia Colman plays Clarrie Niven, the dour wife of Colin Firth’s sweet Mr. Niven, who we may dislike until the reason for her grimness, and other unspoken tensions, are revealed at the picnic in a heartbreaking scene. Firth, O’Connor, and Emma D’Arcy, as Paul’s fiancee, also give searing, heart-rending performances, but a standout is Sope Dirisu, as the man who opens to door to Jane’s literary awakening and adds another tragic note. These fine performances, however brief, powerfully help depict the devastating legacy of the war and the other experiences, good and painful, that shape the protagonist’s life and career as a writer.

It is better not to describe too much of the story, which risks spoilers, but the changes in this young woman’s life reflect the changes in British society after WWI, particularly shifts in the class system and the expanding opportunities for women. That war nearly wiped out a generation of young men, leaving parents bereft but also a generation of young women with no young men to marry, women who then had to consider how to make their own way in life, and maybe seek more. None of this is expressed directly, but indirectly it is reflected in the life of the woman we meet as a young maid who becomes a famous author, a transformation nearly inconceivable in an earlier era.

This fine drama has many rewards, and not just its evocative visual beauty, with director Eva Husson’s skillful storytelling and fine performances by a cast of British greats. MOTHERING SUNDAY opens in theaters on Friday, Apr. 8.

RATING: 3.5 out of 4 stars

WRITING WITH FIRE – Review

WRITING WITH FIRE, a nominee for this year’s Best Documentary Oscar, is about India’s only women-run newspaper, a news source that has gone in digital since its founding in 2002, and one that covers stories overlooked by other news outlets, particularly on abuse, rape and corruption, with hard-hitting reporting and high journalistic standards. That is astonishing enough but the fact that all the women are also Dalits, the cast formerly known as untouchables, makes this news source seem nearly miraculous. But this is not fiction: these hard-working female reporters are the real thing.

WRITING WITH FIRE is one of two documentaries this past year about small news outlets doing journalism right, covering stories larger outlets won’t cover and serving their community and its right to know. The other one, STORM LAKE, tells an admirable story about an award-winning small town newspaper in the American heartland that is doing everything right, in a way so many larger news outlets no longer are. There is something hopeful in having two such uplifting documentaries, about the triumph of the “little guy,” in a year dominated by so much grimness.

In many ways, filmmakers Rintu Thomas’ and Sushmit Ghosh’s documentary WRITING WITH FIRE is the more amazing story. In 2002, a group of women in India established a women-run newspaper, Khabar Lahariya (‘Waves of News’). That is astonishing enough in a country where men dominate the news industry, and much of life generally. More amazing is that this group of women were also Dalits, the people once called “untouchables” who exist beyond the lowest level of India’s caste system. No one expected their newspaper to survive, yet it did. It still remains the only women-run paper in India.

Documentarians Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh follow these women as they engage in a fearless kind of journalism, reporting abuses and corruption no one else covers. Led by journalist Meera Devi, they investigate and report, but also train and encourage other Dali women who want to join them in doing what journalism is supposed to do: speaking truth to power. And they do that while battling both sexism and caste discrimination every day.

The title refers to several things, including the fiery devotion these women have to the mission of their news outlet for truth-telling, and their determination to covering stories that are too hot, too incendiary, for most other Indian media outlets. Often these are issues of particularly concern to women or to Dalits generally, who face prejudice and often live at the lowest rung of the economic ladder. But the title might also refer to their fierce commitment to each other.

These women journalists are committed to reporting untold stories with courage, but the whole operation serves another purpose: to encourage women who otherwise have little power to take control of their lives. The news outlet welcomes any woman who wants to join their effort, training them in reporting and giving them educational and job skills they never had before. All the staff work as a team, with a commitment to uplifting and supporting women like themselves. At the time the documentary was shot, the news outlet was actively embracing new media, arming their female reporters with smartphones for their work, women who have never owned a cell phone and might have little formal education. And it is impressive what these women can achieve with those tools and that encouragement.

The documentary follows the women journalists as they report on a series of stories, including one of serial rapes that have been ignored by both other media and the police. By digging deep and by dogged persistence, the reporters force both other media to recognize the crime and authorities to address it. The film also follows several individual stories, including one new young recruit with no education who discovers a self-confidence and ability she didn’t know she had before. Another thread focuses on a young woman who becomes a star reporter, and with eyes newly opened to life’s possibilities, embarks on higher education. Watching Meera Devi’s devotion to high journalistic standards and to covering the stories others won’t, combined with her skill and warmth as a mentor, is truly inspiring. The women are not only hard working but joyful in their work and fellowship with each other.

If you need a dose of uplift, in the face of all the negative things happening in the world now, WRITING WITH FIRE delivers that, just as these female reporters deliver the news their community needs. WRITING WITH FIRE, in Hindi with English subtitles, debuts on VOD on all major digital platforms on Mar. 22, and will have its TV debut on PBS’s “Independent Lens” on Mar. 28.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

HIVE – SLIFF Review

*Yllka Gashi as Fahrije in HIVE, which will be shown at the 2021 St. Louis International Film Festival, Photo credit Alexander Bloom.*

A triple winner at Sundance and Kosovo’s official submission for the Oscars, HIVE is one of several outstanding international films featured at this year’s St Louis International Film Festival.

Writer/director Blerta Bashollo’s HIVE is her feature film debut. The moving drama about women in Kosovo struggling in the aftermath of war is based on a true story about one of the many women left in limbo when their husbands disappeared during the war. Fahrije (Yllka Gashi) continues her endless search for her missing husband, showing up as mass graves or buried clothing are found periodically by aid workers, but with little hope of finding him. At the same time, she also struggles to support her two children and her wheelchair-bound father-in-law by tending the beehives her husband once cared for, while her elderly father-in-land sells the honey at the local market, But the bees are not as productive now in the devastated landscape, and sales of honey bring a meager income for the family.

Fahrije also works for a local organization that tries to help other women in her small village, women and families left in the same limbo by missing husbands and fathers. As long as their deaths are not confirmed, the women are not widows, although in practical terms they are. As long as there is the chance their husbands might be alive, she and the other widows face harsh restrictions in the male-dominated traditional culture of her village, including vehement opposition to learning to drive or having a job.

Despite these threats, the desperate Fahrije starts a home-based food business, making a popular local condiment of peppers for a grocery store in a nearby city. The little business faces angry backlash from the men in the village and vicious gossip, but it also gives her and the other widows a means to survive, and hope.

HIVE is a touching, inspiring drama about the power of sisterhood, filled with fine performances, particularly by star Yllka Gashi, and an insightful glimpse into another culture and an inspiring look at a world of women enduring and succeeding under tough circumstances. One of the best touches in this uplifting drama are the shots of the real Fahrije shown with with the end credits.

HIVE, in Albanian with English subtitles, plays SLIFF on Nov. 5 at 1pm and Nov. 6 at 7pm at the Tivoli Theater. See the SLIFF website, https://www.cinemastlouis.org/sliff/festival-home, for tickets and other information. Covid procedures are in place, so all audience members must show proof of Covid vaccination and wear masks.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

PASSING – Review

In 1920s New York, two women, once childhood friends, meet again accidentally one hot summer day. Both are Black but one of them, Clare (Ruth Negga), is “passing” as white, married to a successful white banker (Alexander Skarsgard), who has no idea his wife is Black, while the other, Irene (Tessa Thompson), is married to prosperous Black doctor (Andre Holland) in Harlem. Set during the Harlem Renaissance and based on Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel of the same name, PASSING is actor-turned-director Rebecca Hall stunning directorial debut, in a drama that explores not only race but identity, feminism, personality clashes and the dynamics of women’s friendships in a tale that borders on psychological thriller.

Shot in gorgeous black-and-white, with a 4:3 aspect ratio that mirrors films of the 1920s time period, PASSING is an impressive, involving and thought-provoking film. It is, of course, not the first film to focus on “passing,” meaning the ability of some light-skinned Blacks to be taken as white, which allowed them during the era of segregation to cross the color line, whether temporarily for shopping or work, or by living under an assumed white identity. Previous Hollywood films, such as IMITATION OF LIFE, have address the practice, although they tended to punish the transgressor crossing the color line, but PASSING takes a more complicated look. Author Nella Larsen had some direct experience with passing, as she was mixed race but raised in a white neighborhood, and had a foot in both worlds as an adult. PASSING explores issues of race and “passing” but also delves into other questions of identity, of women’s satisfaction with their lives, the dynamics of friendship, and contrasting personalities, in a drama that almost borders on psychological thriller.

Director Hall draws fine performances from Negga and Thompson, and shows a firm hand as the story unfolds from the heat of summer to the chill of winter, and finally to its devastation conclusion. But one may wonder why a white English woman is directing this story about racial passing but things are not always what they seem, to paraphrase a character in the film. Hall recently revealed that she had learned at some point that her maternal grandfather, who she never met, was a Black man passing as white. So when Hall read Nella Larsen’s novel, it resonated with her, leading her to adapt it for the screen, and eventually make this film.

In a sense, both women are passing when they meet as film opens. The story is set in New York during the flourishing of the Harlem Renaissance, but it is also the time of Jim Crow and lynchings in the South, as the film notes at one point, Even in New York, segregation is in place and crossing the “color line” is risky. But it is a hot summer day, and Irene (Tessa Thompson) has taken refuge from the heat in a whites-only hotel restaurant, where she knows that with her light-toned skin means she is likely to be take as white. Irene’s awareness of that passive deception, and her nervousness about it, is revealed by how she hides much of her face under her cloche hat, as if looking people in the eye will give her away. But the day is hot, and she knows he can find a cool spot and a cool drink in that hotel. She does not expect to find Clare.

When a blonde-haired woman approaches her table, Irene tenses up, and does not recognize her old friend Clare. When Clare suggests they move to her hotel room to chat, Irene quickly agrees, uncomfortable with the public attention they might draw.

Both the women appear happy with their choices and both have comfortable lives, with husbands, children and financial stability. But Clare longs to reconnect with her friend, and her black identity, while Irene is cool to the idea. While Irene dotes on her two boys, Clare has sent her daughter to a boarding school in Switzerland, far from the racial attitudes of the U.S. When Clare asks her if she’s never considered passing, Irene bristles and reveals her disdain for what Clare is doing. She also expresses a fear for Clare’s safety, if she tries to reconnect with her black past, as well as worry about being too near that risk herself. When Clare’s husband appears, and reveals both that he is completely clueless about his wife’s identity and a confirmed racist, Irene can’t get out of there fast enough.

Irene has no intention of seeing Clare again. As we learn shortly, back in Harlem, Irene is active as a volunteer with an organization working to advance rights for Black people and a prominent member in the community. She is a devoted mother to her two boys and fully confidence in her own world, with none of the nervous we saw as she moved through the white part of town. Although she is not interest in renewing her friendship with Clare, Clare shows on her doorstep nonetheless

As charming, charismatic Clare slowly inserts herself into Irene’s life, Irene’s settled, quiet life becomes unbalanced, and cracks in the happy facade of both women begin to appear. Irene has built her life around devotion to her sons but now that seems to occupy her life yet she resists her husband’s suggestion they move to another country, as they once planned, raise the boys in a less racist environment. Irene seems to both resent and envy Clare’s freedom, moving between white and Black worlds and free from husband, who is often traveling, and child. There is a frisson of attraction between her and vivacious Clare but Irene senses a worrying similar frisson between Clare and her husband. Clare, on the other hand, seems to becoming bolder as she crossing between worlds, ignoring the risks she is taking.

There are personal dynamics between these two very different women, which plays out against the backdrop of Irene’s world, the one Clare wants to be part of while keeping her privileged one in the white world. The acting is excellent, and Hall explores the complex issues and the personal dynamics as the film builds tension, as the season change. Hall used the period details, the black-and-white images, and skillful mis-en-scene to both create the time period and the specific world of these women, While the focus is on the two women, the men are fully rounded characters and neither one-note villain or hero. All the ideas are gray areas, in contract to the film itself. t ends with with a shocking scene, where there is a flurry of action where it is not clear what happened, although we kind of know.

PASSING is a thought-provoking film, a well drawn view of the historical time period but a timeless look at interpersonal dynamics and the nature of some friendships. Hall has made an impressive start with an intelligent, gripping drama that also keeps you on the edge of your sear, and hopefully will follow up with another soon.

PASSING opens Friday, Oct. 5, in theaters.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

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