Angelina Joile's rape/love film

[MillyR]

Sorry if this has already been mentioned, but I read in the paper today that Angelina Jolie is directing a film about Bosnian Muslim woman who falls in love with the Serbian soldier who raped her during the conflict.

The Women Victims of War Association in Sarajevo has said:

'Among thousands of testimonies by women raped during the war, there is no a single one that tells of a love story between a woman and her rapist.'

Angelina Jolie has said:

'Any dramatic interpretation will fail those who have had a real experience.'

This has made me angry. There are degrees of failure when representing people's real life experience; surely portraying rape in this way is reprehensible?

christ.

It's the shock factor that will sell cinema tickets. Sad but true.

the amorality is beyond belief. But then we know from the Roman Polanski thing that most of Hollywood thinks rape is ok.

This sounds a horrible film. If it does get made, I hope it gets a slating at the box office. I'm sure we can rely on the lovely Mark Kermode to see through the pretensions. He's good at spotting misogyny in films.

Good God

Is she on crack?

or is she pandering to misogynistic rape myths in order to promote her own career without even a thought for the women who have actually suffered rape who are upset by this?

Hope it's the crack.

well yes, it is Hollywood.

errr, surely should watch film before making a judgement?

I don't think so, Sophable, no-one's arguing with the film, we're arguing with the premise of it. You can have a great film like Grease, which is brilliant as a film, but the premise of it is fucking abysmal - boy meets girl, boy falls out with girl, girl changes to get him back. Fucking awful. But it is a brilliant film, well executed, well acted, well produced, well done. This angelina film may be similar, but it doesn't stop the premise being crap.

a story of a woman falling in love with her rapist? no need to watch, women spent many decades trying to make rape taken seriously for miss jolie to come with you know what, you can even love the bastard... and marry him, have kids and be happy, oh, except for the little trauma of the violation of body and soul. and remember, rape is still used as a weapon of war today, so no, not funny.

BBC news weblink

I found on reading the bbc news weblink at best confused on what it would really be about the other day? As there are a lot of false rumours.

Admittedly I am very tired at the moment. What do you all make of it after reading?

Vile! And an utter lack of respect for the women who have been raped, to trivialise their experience like that!

I can't imagine her making a film about a concentration camp inmate falling in love with her nazi rapist and torturer and then dismissing criticism by airily declaring that of course any artistic interpretation would fail those people who experienced the holocaust. (Interesting that she thinks there's no problem with knowingly failing Bosnian rape victims).

Although didn't Dirk Bogarde make a film along those lines, the Night Porter? I can't remember the details of it now, I just remember the torpid ennui that overcame me while I watched it...

Women! Pah, they love it really

I don't usually post in feminism as I'm not terribly articulate and feel pretty ignorant I think. However I will watch this thread with interest. I completely agree Beatitude.

HB, the Nazis seem to be in a class of their own re 'evilness' in the popular imagination, as far as i can see. It's been touched on in the other thread, admittedly I have only skimmed it.

Listen up girls, rape isn't that bad. Keep an open mind! He might be just a scared, vulnerable, loveable boy inside.

You can have a great film like Grease, which is brilliant as a film, but the premise of it is fucking abysmal - boy meets girl, boy falls out with girl, girl changes to get him back. Fucking awful. But it is a brilliant film, well executed, well acted, well produced, well done.

Off topic, but at the end of Grease, John Travolta's character has changed, too. He tips up at the funfair wearing a spoddy "letterman" jacket (like sporty / jocks wear), rather than his blck leather jacket.

Just a thought.

But the A Jolie thing stinks.

And also, what does she mean, that any interpretation would fail victims?

Is she saying that Sophie's Choice was crap, Schindler's List, Philadelphia, Rabbit Proof Fence, the Magdalen sisters, etc. etc. - sorry, can't be bothered to think of a comprehensive and diverse list of exemples, but there are loads of films which have portrayed the suffering of various groups and the victims have said explicitly, that the film helped in making them feel they had a voice, had told their story, had vindicated them in some way. There's always a danger that you will fail victims when you try and interpret their experience, but it's not inevitable, is it? It's so fucking airily dismissive, that assertion and seems to me to be so dishonest, because of course the reason that films like Schindler's List etc., didn't fail their victims, or at least aren't generally held to have failed them, is because they generally try to portray the experience with as much truth as they can manage. You fail victims, when you set out to describe an experience untruthfully.

LOL Greythorne, I knew someone would point that out, but he discards that cardigan pretty quickly, doesn't he?

She just shrugged her shoulders. Doesn't care. It's transgressive innit. Breaks down barriers. Brave. We've got Muslims in there. War. Sexual violence. 'Taboo busting'. She's a serious actress, you know.

Just noticed how the language of 'artiness' is v simialr to the language of sexual violence.
Transgressive - breaking down barriers - brave.
Significant, or not?