Films with a feminist angle

oops!

The fat ladies and Josephine Baker section at the beginning are politically incorrect / potentially offensive

I'd completely forgotten about that bit

It does get much better as it goes on, promise

Baddass little old ladies FTW :)

enjoy!

Alien

Aliens

Amazing films in which the main characters, good and evil are female. Ellen Ripley is one of the greatest female characters in cinema history, the baddie/s are egg laying parasitoids and even the ship is called "Mother"

The Stepford Wives 1975 - very dark, not remotely inspiring, but very much of interest to feminists

I love films about women overcoming hardship, discrimination etc. "Having a good time" doesn't really do if for me.

Me too. A couple of Romanian language films you might like, viewer discretion advised as there are traumatic scenes in both films

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (very bleak narrative centered around 2 female friends as one of them attempts to get an illegal abortion in communist Romania)

Katalin Varga
Very beautiful, very bleak film

You might also like The Naked Kiss
A brilliant, fairly obscure film centered around the experiences of a former sex worker Kelly as she tries to exit prostitution and make a new life for herself. Lots of extremely bleak issues, explored beautifully, as Kelly struggles to deal with the prejudices and hatred of her new neighbours who look down on her, even though she is by far the better person. Highly recommended

You can see the entire film on youtube here

Also 2 wonderful films in which sassy, badass little old ladies flex their muscles

Night of the Hunter (the original 1955 masterpiece - not the awful remake). The subtext of the film, very relevant to anyone interested in DV, coercive control and cults, is how women and girls' need to be loved can leave us vulnerable to exploitation by charming wolves in sheep's clothing.

Belleville Rendezvous aka The Bellville Triplets (animated film)
A truly wonderful film maybe a little scary for younger children

Also, while possibly not exactly a feminist film, there is an amazing, highly original film, a Swedish art house film, on Channel 4 called Border. On one level it is all about how a conventionally unattractive woman with a sensory processing disorder, in a toxic relationship with a man who cares more about his dogs than he does about her, live her life. Then it all gets extremely surreal. Of interst to anyone with an interst in gender studies. A highly original masterpiece but it takes you to some incredibly disturbing places so viewer discretion etc.

I'm not sure -- but has anyone mentioned Unorthodox?
A truly spectacular series about a woman who escapes the stricture of an orthodox Jewish marriage and flees to Berlin. A true story, based on a memoir of the same name. On Netflix now.

I love films about women overcoming hardship, discrimination etc. "Having a good time" doesn't really do if for me. I like to see them struggle and gain insight and maturity. This happens for instance in Legally Blond in a fun way.
But also in Mumbai Central the latter in quite a horrendous way for me it's also about removing the veil about the abuse women go through.
You can't watch the latter film and still defend prostitution, not if you are a just human being.

"@AllianceOfCorcles Pride and Prejiduce? How?"

If you live in a prison only one freedom is available to you - the freedom to change your mind. And so that tiny freedom becomes precious. I guess that's how I see pandp.

Great thread.

Can I recommend "Stagecoach" from the 1930s? I watched it last night and it's incredible - it's currently free on Amazon prime if you have that. It's remembered as John Wayne's breakthrough film but top billing actually goes to a woman playing a prostitute. The characters are trapped in a stagecoach together for a long journey. There are two women - one a "Madonna" the other a "whore". The real and rather heart-breaking plot is the way the two women come together but are split again.
Sometimes I think the old films tell us stuff that newer more self-conscious films don't.

I'd forgotten about Whale Rider. Thanks for reminding me. I loved it, must watch with my dc.

Finding it a bit depressing that decent female characters are enough to qualify as feminist, but that's where we're at...
The oldie "Nine to Five" with Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton surviving working life amongst the men dresses sexism in the workplace.
(Remember the theme song? "They just use your mind, and never give you credit...")
An Australian indie film, "Rabbit Proof Fence" about young indigenous girls in colonial Australia, heart rending.

Yy to the Color Purple. Women’s lives, female friendships, sisterhood, Whoopie Goldberg and Oprah !

I only just saw that there's a whole thread on that series and scene.

Just finished After Life, by and with Ricky Gervais, both series.
It's not by any means a feminist film or with a feminist angle -- BUT I love how women are represented in it. It has a human angle, and except for a few big asshole characters, it's great.

AND!!!!

Series 2, episode 6, the last episode, a whole long scene about transgenderism 50 year old man identifying as 8 yr old schoolgirl, wife's opinion, daughter's opinion, whole discussion about the transgender thing absolutely brilliant! Possible to watch just that scene, starting at 12:30, you don't have to watch through the whole thing. It IS worth watching, though.

Mention already of "20th Century Women," which has a stupendous cast of Anette Benning, Greta Gerwig and Elle Fanning playing the three generations of eponimous women. They are all beyond brilliant.

The problem is the relationship between Fanning and Benning's son, the whole Dawson's Creek scenario even more ridiculous in this case. Simply not possible.

What does ring true is the period detail. So sick of films made about the 70s by people too young to remember but who are certain they know what it was like. It's not about the clothes and the hairstyles, it's the attitudes, and this film really takes you there, whether you remember 1979 or not.

Six stars out of five.

Mustang a 2015 Turkish coming of age film

Yes, I've seen that......and there are quite a few good films coming out of Turkey and Iran, and the middle east generally, these days.....

Another vote for Hidden Figures. Shocking look at sexism and racism in the NASA space program in 60’s America, but ultimately a great feelgood film.
The brilliant black female mathematician portrayed in the film, Katherine Johnson, just died this year at the age of 98.

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is a real experience.......An American-Iranian cast.......a contemporary vampire movie with a great sound track. In Persian with sub-titles

Also, American Honey - featuring a strong female lead in the character of Star - who runs away from her circumstances with a crew of young magazine sellers......who travel the US. Great soundtrack.

Both the above by female directors...

as is Winter's Bone, featuring Jennifer Lawrence as a 16year old girl struggling to survive in the hills of Missouri; left with responsibility for her two younger siblings and her mentally ill mother.

Mustang a 2015 Turkish coming of age film.
Five orphan girls are seen innocently playing with boys on a beach, their scandalized conservative guardians confine them while forced marriages are arranged.

Surely what makes a film 'feminist' is simply having a strong, fully developed, female central character who forges her own path in whatever environment, or set of circumstances, she lives.

There are lots of great European and other foreign language films available....so sub-titled films should not be ruled out.

Thanks for your background info on Self Made, creativecringe. I didn't know that and enjoyed the film on face value.

Now, Unorthodox! That is something worth watching! One of the best things I've seen recently. What a performance! Based on a true story: young woman escapes her strict Orthodox marriage and life and starts over in Berlin. The Berlin part is fictional.

Disobedience on Netflix. with lesbians