Films with a feminist angle

[rosiepony]

Hi everyone, I’m looking for films with a feminist angle to watch during this lockdown.

I watched Silence of The Lambs last night with my DD for the first time in ages. I was reminded how brilliant it is, how it centres Jodie’s role and shines a critical light on all the male characters although they’re exaggerated for entertainment. I also had new reflections on Buffalo Bill and his ‘woman suit’ although I won’t go into that for fear of being banned! Quite timely given what’s going on though!

Anyway, I’d be grateful for any recommendations. Thanks.

LOL MrsSnippyPants that's brilliant

Another film comes to mind, on a feminist theme, the absolutely brilliant

The Witch

trailer here

Not just a horror film, this is a film about fear of the feminine and the female body (the menarche of the main charater resonating with the blood squirting from a goat's teat) in a patriarchal society, where a family is outcast into the dark, scary wood and the partriarch / father struggles to provide for his family.

This is a very scary film, all about female rage. Obvioulsy not for everyone but I love it.

Third vote for A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night. Just magnificent.

Some great (and not so great imao ) films mentioned here.

I'd like to nominate Grandma from 2015 starring and written for the fabulous Lily Tomlin. She plays the titular Grandma who ends up on a road trip with her granddaughter to try and raise the money for the latter's abortion.

Tomlin's character is a real badass (marvel at how she deals with the granddaughter's boyfriend) and the film is unrepentant in how it deals with the issue of abortion. Great multi-generational female characters.

Highly recommended.

Keep an eye out for this:

Lily Tomlin is great. Has anyone mentioned 9 to 5? I love that film. Its comedy but a great reflection of women's working experiences and Lilly Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton are fantastic in it.

@andhessixfeetten thanks for the tip. I’m going to watch Stagecoach tonight. Sounds perfect for a Sunday night movie. I’ll report back!

On the subject of women directors

Lizzie Borden's 1986 film Working Girls

Definitely NSFW 18+ viewers only
watch the full movie here - this has not been up long and may be taken down soon it is a rare film so anyone interested in the debate around whether sex work is work might want to download it ASAP

Borden spent a lot of time with women in brothels and made a film depicting the day to day life of women working in them based on her experiences

The film includes nudity and some explicit scenes although these are never "erotic" or titilating, they more depict the mundane and often boring reality of sex work. The depiction of the madame, a horrible character, rings some bells for me.

Another of Borden' films, Born in Flames will be of interest to feminists

trailer here

Now, The Snow Queen, otoh, is a feminist tale. Gerda sets off to save her brother, helped by a variety of strong females, the Robber Girl, the Lap Woman and the Finn Woman

And the Princess who wanted a prince-consort as intelligent as she is. Interesting also that the Snow Queen doesn't suffer any punishment or loss of status.

Any film staring the late great Margret Rutherford as Miss Marple

Murde She Said was the firts and best and, given the subject matter, quite prescient

trailer

Murder She Said even - doh!

Then there's the incredible 1922 silent film Haxan - Witchcraft Through the Ages

Much to interest feminists here

full movie here

I watched Carrie Pilby on Netflix last night; an unusual pick as I tend to avoid books and films with a character name only as title.

It was great! A young, high-IQ Harvard graduate with no social skills has to go out into New York and meet people, date, etc.
She starts off as unlikable, snobbish about her intelligence and know-it-all -- and prudish. I was convinced she'd end up having great sex, and that would be the cure-all for all her troubles.
But it wasn't. She sees through the lines her suitors use to seduce her, avoids seduction, and the ending is perfect.

Afterwards, I was convinced that only a woman could have made this film. A man would definitely want to see her sexually won over by a man. So I checked, and: female director, female screenwriter, female novelist, female producer.

I Am Tonya.
The Favourite.
Both entirely about women and great acting including by middle aged/older women.

In case no one has seen it or wants to record to watch again Hidden Numbers is on Film4 tonight.

Another vote for Wild, lovely and liberating film to watch and while it touches on themes such as the issues specific to a female travelling alone, so much of it just Reece Witherspoon alone, narrating and following the character's own emotional progress, fighting back from the crisis that caused her to take on the challenge. I'm saving the book for … well it had been the summer holiday, but now it will be whenever I get really, really desperate. Also another vote for The Secret Life of Bees, film and truly lovely book. All the main characters are strong women, the family is all women and women centred, and that community of women is enough.

Casting 'Fast Girls' out there - again the main characters all strong women, and the focus on the individual battles and successes of those women individually and as a team. I especially love the scene when four of them, Olympic runners, fail to placate a pushy bloke in a bar, he and mates chase them out onto the street, and the women in evening wear dresses with hair up, just take off their heels and leg it up the street leaving the men baffled and a long way behind.

Chalet Girl is another very sweet film with a feminist angle of a strong female lead character as a competitive snowboarder in the context of yes a rather sweet love interest but more centrally a female dominant friendship group and a female mentor.

Also not a film but I recently re watched Tenko from start to finish - now that's a forgotten gem. A whole raft of brilliant female actors and running the whole spectrum of ages, very few male cast members and all in minor roles, the whole thing centred entirely on the female experience and relationships between the women in that awful situation. Series 3 was the best of the lot.

Contact! So good.

3 billboards

I would like to add the film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, directed by Martin McDonagh.

Also absolutely loved Hidden Figures, which was directed by Theo Melfi.

As a curved ball, JoJo Rabbit by Taiki Waititi is a daring film that deals with an extremely serious topic with fuzzy warmth, deep humanity and very, very dark humour - and it is a film with two strong female characters as key strands in the storyline.

Ooh “Wild”

Terrific and it creeps up on you.
Quite challenging: “What if heroin taught me something? What if I wanted to sleep with all those me ?”

“I am Tonya”

Bloody brilliant especially about being the wrong kind of poor - I see Tonyas all over the place now.

Teenage DD and I are watching a very long anime TV series called Mila Superstar, from around 1970. It's about a teenage girls' volleyball team. It's strong stuff. Dd is loving it. Available in various foreign languages.

This is a comedy short- someone I’m subscribed to on YouTube right now. It’s a satire rap song written from the point of view of sexist men who reduce women to objects but performed by this female artist who’s like a kind of Cindy Sherman- she’s taking the piss out of objectification:

Chocolat - great female characters.

Another vote for Hidden Figures. (It was on FilmFour the other night and that sometimes means it will be on again in a few days.) Those women achieved so much in the face of huge obstacles.